Daijiworld Media Network – Washington

Washington, May 28: A US judge on Thursday declined to block President Donald Trump’s executive order tightening rules on mail-in voting, dealing a setback to the Democratic Party ahead of the November midterm elections.

The Democrats had argued that the order could disenfranchise millions of voters and infringe upon states’ constitutional authority to regulate elections.

The executive order, signed by Trump on March 31, directs the administration to compile a list of confirmed US citizens eligible to vote in each state and use federal data to assist election officials in verifying voter eligibility.

The order also mandates the US Postal Service to deliver ballots only to voters included on approved state mail-in ballot lists and requires states to preserve election-related records for five years.

Lawyers representing plaintiffs, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, urged Washington-based US District Judge Carl Nichols to issue a preliminary injunction blocking the measure.

The Democratic Party argued that the executive order’s directive to use Department of Homeland Security and Social Security Administration data to create “state citizenship lists” could wrongly exclude legally registered voters because the databases may contain outdated or inaccurate information.

However, the Justice Department argued that the legal challenge was premature as federal agencies had not yet implemented the executive order.

During oral arguments held on May 14, Judge Nichols reportedly appeared sympathetic to the government’s position.

The ruling comes as Republicans and Democrats remain locked in a closely contested political battle for control of both chambers of the US Congress in the upcoming midterm elections.

Trump has repeatedly claimed, without evidence, that his 2020 election defeat resulted from widespread voter fraud and has long criticised voting by mail.

Meanwhile, a coalition of Democratic-led states has also filed a separate lawsuit in a federal court in Boston challenging the same executive order.