Ohio Election Officials Say Trump’s Illegal Mail Ballot Power Grab is Impossible to Pull Off Before November

Donald Trump’s scheme to sabotage mail voting just ran headfirst into reality in Ohio: election officials say there is no way to pull it off before November, on top of it being an illegal power grab to begin with. In a new essay for the NYU Democracy Project, Summit County Board of Elections Chair William Rich laid out in exhaustive detail why boards across the state cannot comply with Trump’s unconstitutional USPS mail ballot rule before Election Day: new envelope designs that have to be submitted for federal approval, unique barcodes many boards don’t have the technology to generate, and a scanning process that could take over eighty hours for a single mailing of ten thousand ballots. Ohio’s county election directors have separately warned that the rules would delay ballots, jack up costs, and pile new strain onto boards already racing the clock with less than 60 days until the election. A federal judge has already blocked Trump’s rule, warning that forcing it through now threatens the disenfranchisement of millions of voters who cast their ballots by mail.

“Donald Trump has no constitutional or legal authority to meddle in how states run their own elections. But even if Ohio and other states wanted to implement his anti-mail ballot scheme, it’s literally impossible to do before the election, and trying to do so could disenfranchise millions of eligible voters who have relied on mail voting for years. This is all about making it harder for eligible voters to cast a ballot that counts, because Trump and his MAGA Republicans know they won’t win a fair fight in November. Ohio’s election officials have real work to do getting ready for a safe, secure election. Trump should leave them the hell alone and let them do their jobs,” said Abhi Rahman, Try And Stop Us Spokesperson.