{"id":49923,"date":"2026-08-27T12:54:02","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T19:54:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=49923"},"modified":"2026-08-27T12:54:02","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T19:54:02","slug":"direct-violation-of-the-constitution-democratic-states-sue-to-stop-trump-assault-on-mail-in-voting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/08\/27\/direct-violation-of-the-constitution-democratic-states-sue-to-stop-trump-assault-on-mail-in-voting\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Direct Violation of the Constitution\u2019: Democratic States Sue to Stop Trump Assault on Mail-In Voting"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Absentee<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Absentee ballots were prepared to be mailed at the Wake County Board of Elections on September 17, 2024 in Raleigh, North Carolina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0(Photo by Allison Joyce\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is yet another example of this administration\u2019s unlawful overreach,\u201d said Rhode Island\u2019s attorney general.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Jake Johnson<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aug 26, 2026 (CommonDream.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A coalition of two dozen Democratic-led states filed a lawsuit on Wednesday challenging President Donald Trump\u2019s attempt to use the US Postal Service<\/a> as a vehicle for his assault on mail-in voting, which he has targeted incessantly during both of his White House<\/a> terms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lawsuit<\/a> targets a newly finalized USPS rule<\/a> under which the postal service would not deliver ballots in states that don\u2019t provide their voter data to the federal government. Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said in a statement Wednesday that \u201cthis is yet another example of this administration\u2019s unlawful overreach and is in direct violation of the Constitution, which makes clear that states have the primary authority to administer elections.\u201d<\/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
\"postal<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Painful Setback\u2019: Supreme Court Lets Trump Enforce Mailed Ballot Rules\u2014But Punts on Their Legality<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cVoting by mail is a tried-and-true method of exercising our most fundamental right as American citizens,\u201d Neronha added. \u201cIndeed, it\u2019s the preferred voting method of the president himself. I am confident that we will succeed here, as we have many times before, thereby protecting the right of American citizens, Donald Trump<\/a> included, to vote without interference.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The states\u2019 lawsuit comes days after the US Supreme Court<\/a>, which includes three Trump-nominated justices, stayed a lower-court injunction<\/a> that had blocked implementation of the president\u2019s March executive order<\/a> instructing the US Postal Service to enact restrictions on mail-in voting to prevent \u201cfraud,\u201d which is rare in American elections. On Wednesday, a federal judge in Boston lifted<\/a> the nationwide injunction on the mail-in voting restrictions following a request<\/a> from Trump\u2019s Justice Department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The office of New York Attorney General Letitia James, who joined the new lawsuit, emphasized<\/a> that states \u201cwould have just weeks to comply\u201d if the USPS rule is allowed to take effect ahead of the 2026 midterms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cElection officials will have to redesign ballot envelopes, obtain federal approval, and establish entirely new systems to transmit voter lists to USPS, all while preparing to mail ballots to millions of Americans,\u201d James\u2019 office warned. \u201cIf states or local election officials cannot comply in time, eligible voters could be prevented from receiving or returning their ballots.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The US Constitution<\/a> does not give the president any power over elections, but Trump has spoken repeatedly of his desire to \u201ctake over\u201d and \u201cnationalize\u201d voting in the wake of his 2020 loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As part of his scheme, Trump has focused heavily on exerting control over the US Postal Service, which is currently led by David Steiner. The postmaster general, whom Trump boosted for the role<\/a>, has faced calls to resign<\/a> for allowing USPS to be used as \u201ca partisan instrument of voter suppression.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump is currently pushing to fill four of the five vacancies<\/a> on the US Postal Service\u2019s Board of Governors<\/a>. All of the president\u2019s nominees, which must be confirmed by the Senate, are Republicans<\/a>. As The New York Times<\/a> noted<\/a> on Tuesday, \u201cTrump\u2019s selections broke with a longstanding practice of nominating board members in bipartisan pairs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe quiet attempt to restructure the leadership of the Postal Service comes as the president and his allies are trying to transform the 251-year-old agency into a central player in their quest to overhaul the nation\u2019s elections,\u201d the Times observed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last month, as Common Dreams reported<\/a>, US Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) called for a pause on Trump\u2019s postal board nominees, warning that their confirmation would \u201cundermine public confidence in the board\u2019s ability to serve the public interest above any partisan political aims.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis imbalance in representation would be unprecedented,\u201d said Peters.<\/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

Jake Johnson<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jake Johnson is a senior editor and staff writer for Common Dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Absentee ballots were prepared to be mailed at the Wake County Board of Elections on September 17, 2024 in Raleigh, North Carolina. \u00a0(Photo by Allison Joyce\/Getty Images) \u201cThis is yet another example of this administration\u2019s unlawful overreach,\u201d said Rhode Island\u2019s attorney general. Jake Johnson Aug 26, 2026 (CommonDream.org) A coalition… 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":[2088,2007],"tags":[2431],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49923"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49923"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49923\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49924,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49923\/revisions\/49924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}