ABOUT A THIRD of Americans voted by mail in 2024, including roughly a quarter of Republicans (see chart). Yet nine months later Donald Trump vowed(发誓，郑重承诺) to “get rid of mail-in ballots”. The president falsely claims that fraudulent postal voting contributed to his loss in 2020. His efforts in Congress and the courts to secure new limits on this popular way of casting a ballot have, thus far, come up short(未能达到目标，失败). His executive order on March 31st directing the United States Postal Service (USPS) to serve as ballot gatekeeper is fizzling(逐渐失败，不了了之), too.
2024年，大约三分之一的美国人通过邮寄方式投票，其中包括约四分之一的共和党人（见图表）。然而九个月后，唐纳德·特朗普誓言要“废除邮寄投票”。总统错误地声称，欺诈性的邮寄投票导致他在2020年败选。他在国会和法院争取对这种流行投票方式施加新限制的努力，迄今未能成功。他于3月31日发布行政命令，指示美国邮政总局（USPS）充当选票守门人，这一命令也正在失效。
On August 11th a federal judge in Massachusetts blocked(阻止，封锁) the main provision(条款，规定) of Mr Trump’s order, with nationwide effect. Judge Indira Talwani noted that the president’s “unprecedented(史无前例的) directive” is “causing confusion” among voters less than three months before the midterm elections. All 50 states offer mail-in voting, with eight conducting elections entirely by post. Despite Mr Trump’s efforts, the rules for such ballots during this election cycle are now unlikely to change.
8月11日，马萨诸塞州的一名联邦法官阻止了特朗普命令的主要条款，该裁决在全国范围内生效。法官英迪拉·塔尔瓦尼指出，总统的“史无前例的指令”在中期选举前不到三个月的时间里“引起了选民的困惑”。所有50个州都提供邮寄投票，其中八个州完全通过邮寄进行选举。尽管特朗普做出了努力，但在本次选举周期内，此类选票的规则现在不太可能改变。
Mr Trump’s order attempts to subject(使服从，使遭受) mail and absentee(缺席的，缺勤的) ballots to federal control through a complex series of lists and new postal rules. It instructs the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to create “state citizenship lists” identifying all citizens aged 18 or over and send them to each state. States must then provide the postal service with rosters(名册，花名册) of voters eligible(有资格的，符合条件的) for those ballots, presumably after consulting the DHS lists—though the order does not specify that. Finally, states must use new, USPS-designed envelopes with special markings and bar codes. The postal service is barred(禁止，阻止) from delivering ballots posted in unauthorised envelopes or by voters missing from the relevant lists.
特朗普的命令试图通过一系列复杂的名单和新的邮政规则，将邮寄选票和缺席选票置于联邦控制之下。它指示国土安全部（DHS）创建“州公民名单”，识别所有18岁及以上的公民，并将其发送给各州。然后，各州必须向邮政服务提供有资格获得这些选票的选民名册，大概是在咨询了国土安全部的名单之后——尽管命令没有明确说明这一点。最后，各州必须使用新的、由USPS设计的带有特殊标记和条形码的信封。邮政服务被禁止投递使用未经授权信封或不在相关名单上的选民所寄出的选票。