The Supreme Court has declined the Trump administration's bid to tighten mail-in voting rules ahead of November's midterm elections.
The administration argued that mail ballots are vulnerable to fraud and sought to tighten USPS rules for handling them. Democratic-led states and voting rights groups countered that the president lacks constitutional authority to impose election rules and warned the restrictions would create chaos weeks before voters cast ballots.
A federal judge had already blocked the plan, ruling that only Congress can override states' authority over elections and that the administration's demands were unrealistic on this timeline. The administration appealed, but the justices declined to intervene.
Election officials in states that had already begun mailing ballots can now proceed without changing their processes.