美国联邦上诉法院三人小组周二决定不阻止特朗普的邮寄投票限制行政令，维持了5月份地区法院的原判。[1]该法院小组由两名奥巴马任命的法官和一名特朗普任命的法官组成。[1]法院认为民主党人和投票权组织在政府发布正式规定前寻求禁令为时过早。[1]
不过，法院在判决书中表达了对该令实施可行性的疑虑，指出"该命令可能根本无法以任何方式实施"。[1]法院同时警告，若政府试图在中期选举前几个月强制实施这些改革，法院可能会予以阻止。[1]
特朗普的行政令指示联邦政府创建符合条件选民名单，由邮政总局仅向名单上的人送达选票。[1]美国邮政工人工会主席乔纳森·史密斯表示，成员已被指示准备在线门户。[1]政府在发布该行政令后几天开始发送相关指令。[1]
与此同时，在由民主党州官员提起的另一起诉讼中，马萨诸塞州联邦法官上月已阻止该命令在今年生效，特朗普政府已向最高法院提出上诉。[1]此外，特朗普去年还签署了另一项行政令，要求全国实施投票人ID要求和公民身份证明。[1]
A three-judge federal appeals panel on Tuesday refused to block an executive order limiting mail-in voting, allowing a May decision from a lower court to stand [1]. The court determined that Democrats and voting rights groups had sought an injunction prematurely, before the government had issued formal regulations, but signaled that it might intervene if authorities attempted to enforce the restrictions in the months preceding the midterm elections [1].
The panel, composed of two judges appointed by President Obama and one appointed by President Trump, noted in its decision that "the order may not be implementable in any meaningful way" [1]. Separately, in a parallel case brought by Democratic state officials, a federal judge in Massachusetts blocked the order from taking effect this year, and the Trump administration has appealed that ruling to the Supreme Court [1].
The executive order directs the federal government to compile lists of eligible voters, with the Postal Service instructed to deliver ballots only to individuals on those lists [1]. Jonathan Smith, president of the American Postal Workers Union, stated that members had been instructed to prepare an online portal in response [1]. Trump also signed a separate executive order last year mandating nationwide voter ID requirements and proof of citizenship [1].