BALTIMORE — Mail-in ballots have grown in popularity in Maryland since the pandemic, with more people opting for the convenience of voting from home. Now, a legal battle over a Trump executive order is raising questions about the future of mail-in voting.
The part of the executive order being contested would allow the Postal Service to reject sending out ballots to people not on a federally approved list of voters.
Maryland State Administrator of Elections Jared DeMarinis said the state's mail-in voting processes have not been affected so far.
Maryland election officials address legal battle over Trump executive order on mail-in ballots
"The reality of this ruling was a very technical ruling that did not impact Maryland's mail-in voting processes at this time," DeMarinis said.
The Supreme Court has not yet ruled on the merits of the case.
"You know, the Supreme Court made a, they didn't rule on the merits of the new, of the case before them. They just said that they would decide later. You know, obviously, they're, they're running out of time to decide to impact this election," University of Maryland Chief Strategist for the Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement Sam Novey said.
State election officials are moving forward with business as usual, and DeMarinis said outreach to voters is a priority.
"We have to do a lot of outreach on this one here and basically, you know, assuage the fears of voters in [the] mail system. Making sure that, you know, mail-in voting is legal, it's secure, it's verified," DeMarinis said.
Questions remain about whether a Supreme Court decision could benefit one political party over another. Novey said the evidence does not point to a clear answer.
"You know, people have questions about, well, is that gonna benefit one side or the other. I think there's not enough evidence to say that in any particular context, changing a particular voting method would absolutely change outcomes in one way or another," Novey said.
Ballots are set to head out in late September.
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