Supreme Court shuts down Trump’s bid to restrict mail ballots

The Supreme Court on Monday rejects US President Donald Trump's bid to

restrict mail ballots for the midterm elections, capping a flurry of last-minute legal action,

with voting already underway.

This latest defeat for US President Trump sees the Supreme Court halt his bid to

restrict mail ballots for the upcoming midterm elections.

That means states are allowed to continue their existing processes for mail ballots,

which about a third of American voters use around the country.

The Trump administration had tried to get restrictions in place ahead of November's elections.

Those restrictions had included uniform envelopes and online submissions of voter lists that

would be used to determine who received mail ballots. But election officials across the country

said there wasn't time to implement those changes in the weeks before November's midterms.

If Trump were successful, Postal Service could refuse to deliver ballots to states

that didn't comply with his administration's

proposed uniformed envelopes.

It's seen as an especially serious concern for states that send out ballots early

and those that rely entirely on mail ballots.

Three states had already sent out mail ballots to voters by the time the ruling came down.

The Supreme Court's ruling was a highly anticipated one and part of Trump's wider effort to

reshape how elections are run. And it's a victory for now for Democrats who had challenged

the restrictions and says they went beyond constitutional authority.

The Supreme Court majority didn't detail its reasoning for rejecting Trump's bid,

but there were two dissenting votes, Samuel Leto and Clarence Thomas.

A third justice, Brett Kavanaugh, indicates while he didn't think the changes should go

into effect now, he might rule in favour of the administration

if it comes back before the court at a later date.

In Nevada, the Secretary of State welcomes the Supreme Court ruling,

saying that voters had won, especially in a state like his where mail in voting

is the preferred option for casting ballots.

Trump has consistently emphasised restricting mail ballots as vital to ensuring election

integrity, even though there is virtually no evidence of fraud with mail ballots.