Trump mail-in ballot order allowed for now

The US Supreme Court on Monday lifted a lower court block on parts of President Donald Trump's executive order restricting mail-in voting, allowing the directive to proceed for now while litigation continues.

Trump signed the order in March ahead of the November midterm elections. Democratic-led states sued the administration, arguing that the US Constitution gives states broad control over election administration rather than the federal government.

A district court in Massachusetts had blocked implementation of the executive order. The Supreme Court's majority said in an unsigned opinion that the district court lacked jurisdiction to bar the government from trying to implement it.

The justices said they were not making a final judgment on the merits of the case. “The Court's disposition of this application does not mean that any measure taken by the Government to implement the Order will necessarily be lawful,” they said.

The three liberal justices on the nine-member court dissented.

The March order would require lists of eligible voters to be compiled and would direct the US Postal Service to deliver ballots only to voters on those lists.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, called the decision a “disgrace” and accused Trump of trying to make it harder for Americans to vote. California Governor Gavin Newsom said his state would file another lawsuit over the matter.

Trump has long criticised mail-in ballots, while also using them himself, including this month in Florida's Republican primary. He has claimed without evidence that mail-in voting is highly vulnerable to fraud and has repeatedly linked it to his false assertion that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him by Democrat Joe Biden.