{"id":49932,"date":"2026-08-28T12:33:07","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T19:33:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=49932"},"modified":"2026-08-28T12:33:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T19:33:07","slug":"democracy-is-under-attack-civil-rights-lawsuit-aims-to-block-trump-assault-on-mail-in-voting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/08\/28\/democracy-is-under-attack-civil-rights-lawsuit-aims-to-block-trump-assault-on-mail-in-voting\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Democracy Is Under Attack\u2019: Civil Rights Lawsuit Aims to Block Trump Assault on Mail-In Voting"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"a<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A voter places their ballot in a mailbox in Everett, Washington on July 30, 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0(Photo by Cindy Shebley\/flickr\/cc)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese mail-in ballot restrictions threaten to disenfranchise millions of eligible voters who rely on mail voting to participate in our democracy,\u201d said one advocate.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Brett Wilkins<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aug 27, 2026 (CommonDreams.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A day after a federal judge lifted her injunction on President Donald Trump\u2019s executive order targeting mail-in ballots, a quartet of civil rights<\/a> groups on Thursday filed fresh claims in their lawsuit challenging the administration\u2019s weaponization of the US Postal Service<\/a> to attack the right to vote under the pretense of fighting nearly nonexistent fraud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lawyers\u2019 Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, NAACP, Common Cause, and Black Voters Matter Fund argued<\/a> in the US District Court for the District of Columbia that Trump\u2019s March 31 executive order<\/a> unlawfully attempts to federalize important parts of election administration\u2014especially voter eligibility verification and mail-ballot delivery\u2014by presidential fiat, without authorization from Congress, while creating serious risks of disenfranchisement and misuse of personal data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RECOMMENDED…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Georgia<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Democrats, Groups Fight Back After Supreme Court Clears Way for Trump Attack on Mail Voting<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Absentee<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Direct Violation of the Constitution\u2019: Democratic States Sue to Stop Trump Assault on Mail-In Voting<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The plaintiffs\u2014and many legal experts\u2014argue that the US Constitution<\/a> gives the states and Congress the authority to regulate federal elections, not the president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur democracy<\/a> is under attack,\u201d NAACP president and CEO Derrick Johnson said Thursday in a statement<\/a>. \u201cNo federal entity should be allowed to implement last-minute rules that disenfranchise voters and override state election laws.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis new USPS rule is a direct assault on the fundamental freedoms of millions of Americans\u2014particularly Black voters, communities of color, seniors, military members, and rural residents\u2014just weeks before a critical election,\u201d Johnson added, referring to November\u2019s pmidterms. \u201cWe will not stand idly by while the voices of the people are silenced. We must protect every eligible citizen\u2019s right to cast their ballot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Damon Hewitt, president and executive director of the Lawyers\u2019 Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, warned that \u201cthese mail-in ballot restrictions threaten to disenfranchise millions of eligible voters who rely on mail voting to participate in our democracy while balancing work, caregiving responsibilities, disabilities, and other realities of daily life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Trump administration<\/a> is trying to limit access to the ballot, sow confusion at the polls, and to use the ensuing chaos as an excuse to exert power over agencies and processes in a politicized way,\u201d Hewitt added. \u201cWe will not let this or any administration further undermine our democratic process. We will fight to ensure our elections are free and fair, and that eligible voters are not shut out\u2014especially Black voters and other voters of color, who are frequently targeted by voter suppression schemes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several courts had ruled against Trump\u2019s order. But this week, the US Supreme Court<\/a> cleared the way<\/a> for the administration to proceed with its plans, and on Wednesday US District Judge Indira Talwani, an appointee of former President Barack Obama<\/a>, was compelled to lift her injunction<\/a> on the executive order as a result of the high court\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also on Wednesday, the groups behind the case before Talwani moved to block the Postal Service rule, as did <\/a>a coalition of two dozen Democratic state attorneys general, whose initial challenge had resulted in the ruling from the Supreme Court\u2014which found that the AGs filed their first suit prematurely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Republicans<\/a> including Trump\u2014who has repeatedly voted by mail<\/a>\u2014have used fearmongering and disinformation to push the nearly nonexistent <\/a>\u201cthreat\u201d of voter fraud, especially in regard to mailed ballots, and noncitizens voting in US elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMail-in voting is so safe that even the president has used it twice this year,\u201d Common Cause president and CEO Virginia<\/a> Kase Solom\u00f3n said on Thursday. \u201cThe Postal Service exists to deliver our mail, not to be weaponized by this administration to silence voters. Common Cause will keep fighting to protect a democracy where people choose their leaders\u2014not the other way around.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump\u2019s March order is part of a broader attack on voting rights<\/a> that includes pushing an updated version of Republicans\u2019 so-called SAVE America Act, which would mandate proof of citizenship and strict photo ID requirements to register to vote in federal elections. The legislation, which was passed<\/a> by the House of Representatives in February, is stalled in the narrowly split Senate, where it lacks the support of 60 lawmakers needed to avoid a Democrat filibuster<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMail-in voting gives people the freedom and flexibility to participate in our democracy, and we should be honest about what these efforts to restrict it are really doing: creating barriers to the ballot under the guise of election security,\u201d Black Voters Matter Fund co-founders Cliff Albright and LaTosha Brown said in a joint statement Thursday. \u201cWe are not fooled. This is the same old playbook\u2014manufacture confusion, create unnecessary hurdles, and chip away at voting access.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen the same politicians who defend their own access to mail-in voting move to restrict that access for others, the hypocrisy is hard to ignore,\u201d Albright and Brown continued. \u201cWe cannot allow voter suppression to be repackaged as voter protection or allow political interference to determine who gets to participate and whose voice counts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is not about making democracy more secure; it is about reshaping who can fully participate in it,\u201d they added. \u201cWe will continue to call these efforts what they are and fight for every eligible voter\u2019s freedom to make their voice heard.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brett Wilkins<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brett Wilkins is a staff writer for Common Dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Bio ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A voter places their ballot in a mailbox in Everett, Washington on July 30, 2020. \u00a0(Photo by Cindy Shebley\/flickr\/cc) \u201cThese mail-in ballot restrictions threaten to disenfranchise millions of eligible voters who rely on mail voting to participate in our democracy,\u201d said one advocate. Brett Wilkins Aug 27, 2026 (CommonDreams.org) A… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2088],"tags":[2431],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49932"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49932"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49932\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49933,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49932\/revisions\/49933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}