The majority Supreme Court blocked President Trump’s executive order to restrict mail-in ballots as Judge Brett Kavanaugh said, “State and local election officials do not have sufficient time to reasonably implement the rule before the election.’
As the Midterm election is approaching, the Supreme Court believed that there is not enough time to decide on mail-in-ballot to be restricted as President Trump wished, which perhaps such a restriction could be in the Republicans’ advantage.
It is necessary to limit the President’s power and his political decision, which can affect the democratic process and the principles that the U.S system is based on. The Supreme Court of the United States as the highest Court that interprets the Constitution and holds the power to implement the law, should maintain its credibility and trust and continue to be the last resort in solving the legal issues and limits the political power in general.
The Supreme Court Judges are neither obligated to please the U.S government nor the President; their legal duty is to place the U.S Constitution above the interests that serve the political agenda. President Trump’s intention was to influence the Supreme Court by appointing the three conservative judges, Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch, and Amy Coney Barrett, to the bench during his first term of the Presidency. But all three justices voted to block President Trump’s mail-in-ballot restoration.
“These are not the people I interviewed to serve on the United States Supreme Court.” President Trump said.
With the Midterm election being critical for the Republicans, mail-in-ballot became a concern for President Trump as he is seeking different routes to manipulate the voting process. Trump’s argument about mail-in-ballot restriction is to prevent voting fraud but according to the Brookings Institution in 2025, mail voting fraud was 4 cases out of 10 million mail ballot cast.
Election is a democratic process in the U.S, and the citizens have the right to participate and vote freely without restriction in such a process that many Americans perceive it as an important and obligation to vote.
The 15th Amendment, Section 1, states that, “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”
However, mail-in-ballot or voting by mail is traced back to the Civil War in 1800. The votes were cast by absentee ballots without attending the precinct during the presidential election in 1864, between incumbent Abraham Lincoln and candidate George McClellan. The military service members of most of the states in the Union voted by absentee voting ballot.
The President should not be in a position to restrict any voting method and manipulate the process that benefits his political party. The Republicans have the responsibility to uphold the integrity of the voting process, regardless of the method used.
Apparently, restricting mail-in-ballot can affect the number of the voters, which perhaps affects the election result, and here the problem and the unfairness of the election begins. While the voting process is part of the political system, it should not be interfered with by the politicians and altered to the degree that abridges voters from voting.
The Supreme Court’s decision of blocking President Trump’s unfair restriction of mail-in-ballot must become a permanent law to prevent his future interference with elections.
