Why, one wonders, does the administration want the Postal Service deciding which envelopes carry a vote?
Today the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to let the Postal Service decide which ballot envelopes states are allowed to mail.
Solicitor General John Sauer describes the rule as “only modest envelope-design and addressee-information requirements.”
But here is what the rule requires: States submit their ballot envelopes to the Postal Service for approval. States upload voter information to a federal portal. Officials who do not upload voter information lose the use of the mail to send ballots.
Most of the states suing have already ordered their ballots. Some begin mailing them this month. Washington, Oregon, Hawaii, Colorado, and Utah run their elections almost entirely by mail.
Judge Indira Talwani blocked the rule last Thursday, finding that the Postal Service lacks the authority to regulate election mail, and that compliance before November third is impossible.
The administration filed today while Judge Talwani was preparing to rule. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson gave the states until Tuesday morning to answer.
Meanwhile, a postal whistleblower says the new system was rushed and could stop millions of ballots from reaching voters.
Why, one wonders, does the administration want the Postal Service deciding which envelopes carry a vote?
Notes To My Future Self 