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Politics

Alabama attorney general defends federal mail-in ballot rules amid multistate legal challenge

Steve Marshall backed an executive order involving USPS tracking and voter roll audits as a federal court considers a preliminary injunction.

The short version

  • Republican attorneys general led by Alabama's Steve Marshall are defending a Trump administration executive order designed to audit voter rolls and implement USPS tracking for mail-in ballots.
  • A coalition of 25 Democratic state attorneys general is challenging the measure, arguing it risks widespread voter disenfranchisement and exceeds constitutional authority.
  • A federal judge previously placed a temporary restraining order on the administration's restrictions, with oral arguments over a preliminary injunction scheduled in Boston.

Key facts

  • Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall publicly defended a March 31 executive order from Donald Trump that involves federal agencies and the USPS in auditing voter rolls and tracking mail ballots.[Fox News]
  • Twenty-five Democratic attorneys general filed a lawsuit challenging the order, asserting that withholding postal delivery from non-cooperating states constitutes unconstitutional overreach.[Fox News]
  • U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani issued a temporary restraining order halting the administration's restrictions, finding a substantial risk of citizen disenfranchisement.[Fox News]
  • Marshall previously led a coalition of 13 Republican attorneys general in July supporting the USPS actions implementing the executive order.[Fox News]

What remains uncertain

  • Whether Judge Talwani will grant a longer-term preliminary injunction blocking the federal rules following oral arguments in Boston.[Fox News]
  • How the First Circuit Court of Appeals will rule on the Trump administration's request for a stay of the restraining order.[Fox News]

Sources