Trump asks for lifting of court block on mail-in ballot curbs

The Trump administration asked the US Supreme Court on Thursday to lift a lower court's block of an executive order that would curb the use of mail-in ballots.

The emergency request to the conservative-dominated top court comes two months ahead of the November midterm elections and just days before ballots are to begin being sent out to voters.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order in March seeking to restrict mail-in voting, saying without evidence that it is vulnerable to fraud. But his order has been met with multiple legal challenges.

Democratic-led states sued the administration on grounds that under the US Constitution, states -- and not the federal government -- retain broad control over the administration of elections.

Trump's executive order would require the compilation of lists of eligible voters and for the US Postal Service (USPS) to deliver ballots only to voters who are on the lists.

A USPS whistleblower warned this week that millions of Americans may not receive their mail-in ballots because the systems being used by the postal service have been put together in a "sloppy and rushed manner."

A federal district judge last week blocked Trump's executive order, saying it was "practically impossible" for states to comply with the "likely unconstitutional regulation."

"Most Plaintiff States have already ordered their mail ballots, and some are required by state law to send them to eligible voters as early as next week," Judge Indira Talwani wrote.

The order from Talwani came just days after the Supreme Court temporarily lifted another lower court decision blocking the executive order on mail-in ballots.

Trump has long been a critic of mail-in ballots but has frequently used them himself, including last month when he voted by mail in Florida's Republican primary.

The president has for years claimed without evidence that mail-in voting is highly vulnerable to fraud, repeatedly linking it to his false assertion that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him by Democrat Joe Biden.

Polls show that Trump's Republican Party faces a serious threat of losing its narrow control of Congress in November, particularly the House of Representatives.

If Democrats win, they have signaled they would block Trump's agenda and could move to impeach him for the third time.