The Supreme Court blocked President Donald Trump\u2019s effort to restrict mail voting. But for Democrats trying to turn out voters, the uncertainty seems harder to put to rest.<\/p>\n

Fewer Democrats say they plan to vote by mail in November\u2019s midterms than at the same point in 2024, according to a new NBC News poll<\/a>, as a separate survey finds declining confidence that the Postal Service will deliver election mail on time. That represents an about-face for a party that has increasingly embraced mail voting since the 2020 pandemic election, forcing Democratic strategists to rethink how they get voters to the polls \u2014 and how to convince them their ballots will count.<\/p>\n

Quentin James, founder and president of the Collective PAC, said his group is hearing concerns from Black voters about whether their mailed ballots will be secure and counted.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there’s confusion,\u201d James said. \u201cWe know that the president has spent six months talking about changing the rules regarding mail-in voting, and a lot of folks are concerned about their ballot being secure.\u201d<\/p>\n

That confusion comes as Democrats and voting groups weigh how to reassure voters after Trump\u2019s latest effort to restrict mail voting. The president signed an executive order<\/a> in March seeking to crack down on mail-in voting, citing unproven claims that the process is insecure and vulnerable to electoral fraud.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe cheating on mail-in voting is legendary. It\u2019s horrible what\u2019s gone on,\u201d Trump said during an Oval Office signing ceremony. \u201cI think this will help a lot with elections.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, the rules for mail ballots \u2014 at least nationally \u2014 will be effectively the same as 2024 after the Supreme Court rejected the Trump administration\u2019s attempt to enforce the new mail-in ballot delivery regulations in a ruling earlier this month<\/a>. The high court left in place a lower-court decision that blocked the U.S. Postal Service from implementing the new proposed requirements in the weeks before the midterm election.<\/p>\n

Despite that, Democratic voters have signaled they are changing how they\u2019ll vote.<\/p>\n

In the NBC poll, 23% of registered Democrats said they plan to vote by mail, down from 34% in September 2024. Thirty-six percent said they plan to vote early in person, up from 30%, while another 36% expect to vote on Election Day.<\/p>\n

A Marist poll found<\/a> that 58% of registered voters were confident the Postal Service would deliver election-related mail to voters and election officials on time, down from 71% in October 2024. Marist also found that Democrats remain more likely than Republicans to plan to vote by mail or absentee ballot, 32% to 12%, respectively.<\/p>\n

James said his organization has long encouraged early in-person voting through its Rides to Vote program, which provides transportation to voters without a vehicle. But despite the Supreme Court ruling, his organization is also encouraging people considering voting by mail to use a ride voucher to return their completed ballots directly to the required location.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bigger threat is confusion and fear,\u201d he said. \u201cThat is the thing that a court case will not solve, and that’s what we’re really concerned about.\u201d<\/p>\n

$\"The$ <\/p>\n

In Maine, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said municipal clerks have reported voters canceling absentee ballot requests, including requests to receive ballots automatically in future elections.<\/p>\n

Bellows cautioned against a blanket message to vote in person. \u201cWe would discourage advocates from telling people not to vote by mail if, for those voters, that\u2019s their only option,\u201d said Bellows, a Democrat who ran this cycle for governor and in the rapid-fire Senate primary, pointing to older and disabled Mainers who rely on absentee voting.<\/p>\n

Her office is instead urging voters to make a plan that works for them, return mailed ballots early and use Maine\u2019s online absentee ballot tracking system to check whether a clerk has received and accepted them.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur public education efforts have been focused on encouraging voters to make a plan that’s right for them, and recognizing that they have the peace of mind of tracking their absentee ballot and the backup option of voting on Election Day if, for any reason, the ballot is delayed by the mail,\u201d Bellows said.<\/p>\n

Indivisible, one of the party\u2019s largest grassroots groups, is mounting its own early-vote push and nudging people to cast their ballots early, regardless of how they vote. Co-founder Leah Greenberg said that the group is helping organize an Oct. 17 national day of action to encourage people to vote early under their states\u2019 rules.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we were absolutely hearing concern,\u201d Greenberg said. \u201cBut more importantly, what we’re hearing is people trying to figure out what they can do and how they can organize locally in order to protect elections.\u201d<\/p>\n

Greenberg said Indivisible is urging voters to get their ballots in early and emphasizing that a court rejected the administration\u2019s attempt to restrict mail voting.<\/p>\n

Still, the ruling hasn\u2019t erased the uncertainty organizers say they are hearing from voters. Greenberg and James described a similar mix of relief and concern among voters.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are glad to hear it, but still wary,\u201d Greenberg said.<\/p>\n

$\"Nevada$ <\/p>\n

Democrats, including state election officials who oversee the process, are also looking for ways to boost confidence in the mail system. Nevada Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar has asked his state\u2019s congressional delegation to arrange election observers at postal facilities handling Nevada\u2019s ballots.<\/p>\n

In letters to the state\u2019s congressional delegation, Aguilar identified sites<\/a> in Las Vegas and Reno, as well as facilities in West Sacramento, California, and Salt Lake City, Utah.<\/p>\n

Aguilar said nearly 670,000 Nevadans voted by mail in 2024 and argued that having observers present could strengthen confidence in ballot handling. In an interview, he said observers would also signal to postal workers that they have support in the process.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy having observers there, it gives them the support to say: \u2018Hey, we got your back,\u2019\u201d Aguilar said. \u201cWe also want to be helpful if there are any concerns \u2014 we want to make sure that leadership knows we are not going to stay quiet. We’re going to be proactive. We’re going to be engaged and we’re going to hold them accountable when we need to hold them accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aguilar said Rep. Susie Lee (D-Nev.) has requested observers following his letters. Lee\u2019s office did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

USPS said it had received correspondence regarding Aguilar\u2019s request and was reviewing it. \u201cThe Postal Service has successfully delivered America\u2019s election mail, and we are confident that we will do so again this year,\u201d Nikolaj Hagen, a Postal Service spokesperson, said.<\/p>\n

Hagen pointed to USPS figures showing it delivered 233.3 million pieces of election mail through Aug. 28 in fiscal year 2026, with 97.94% arriving on time. In the 2022 election, USPS handled 105.4 million ballots<\/a> and delivered 99.93% of those sent by voters to election officials within seven days. In 2024, it handled 222.39 million pieces of ballot mail<\/a>, with 99.88% delivered to officials within seven days.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Bellows said Maine is taking a different approach. Local USPS representatives have proposed weekly meetings with her election staff, she said, and her office has relationships with workers at the state\u2019s two distribution centers.<\/p>\n

But she noted congressional observers could be useful in larger states where those relationships are less established.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaine is a small enough place where, if there were a problem, we would probably know very quickly through union representatives or simply word of mouth,\u201d Bellows said, noting that congressional observers at postal locations could be particularly useful in places \u201cwhere those relationships may not be as strong or well established.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Supreme Court blocked President Donald Trump\u2019s effort to restrict mail voting. But for Democrats trying to turn out voters, the uncertainty seems harder to put to rest. Fewer Democrats say they plan to vote by mail in November\u2019s midterms than at the same point in 2024, according to a new NBC News poll, as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27369\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}