How the USPS’ mail ballot gambit got smacked down

Donald Trump just tried to interfere with the midterms in a very baroque way—and swiftly got smacked down by the courts. But what exactly was he trying to do, and how was he trying to do it?

On this week’s episode of The Downballot podcast, election law expert Justin Levitt explains how the U.S. Postal Service tried to issue new rules for mail ballots that would have resulted in many never reaching voters, and how election officials fought back by showing that they would have been impossible to comply with—and almost certainly illegal. Levitt also tells us why he doesn’t think similar gambits are likely to succeed in the future.

Co-hosts David Nir and David Beard also put a bow on the Missouri redistricting saga, which came to an end just after our last episode went live when the Supreme Court made it clear that the state could not use the GOP’s new gerrymander. The Davids then discuss the belated Republican rescue mission in Texas, where a floundering Ken Paxton is finally getting some help … that may have arrived too late.

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