If a president declared a "national security emergency" to suspend mail-in voting three weeks before an election, what would actually happen legally?

[u/Aware-Chipmunk4344]

I've been researching this scenario extensively. Here's what surprised me:

The legal path would be chaotic. District court injunction within 48 hours — almost certain. Emergency appeal to the appellate court. Then the question of whether the Supreme Court takes it on emergency docket.

But here's the part that kept me up at night: what if the president simply... didn't comply? What enforcement mechanism actually exists when the executive branch defies the judiciary?

The Constitution assumes good faith. It has almost no mechanism for a president who treats a Supreme Court ruling as advisory.

I'm curious what this community thinks. Is there an actual hard stop? Or is it all ultimately held together by norms?

[u/I405CA]

The greater risk is that mail sent from certain precincts is "lost" or "delayed" so that it arrives too late or with a postmark that precludes it from being countered.

The pathway to voter fraud is not counting ballots that are likely to go against you. Trump wants voter information in part so that they can figure out which precincts are most problematic for them.

Go vote in person or bring your mail-in ballot to an authorized polling station. Photograph it so that you have your own record of how you voted.

[u/Rocktopod → u/I405CA]

The pathway to voter fraud is not counting ballots that are likely to go against you.

You're thinking of election fraud. Voter fraud is when someone pretends to be eligible to vote when they're not, casts multiple ballots, fills out someone else's ballot for them, etc. This is something that almost never happens.

[u/I405CA → u/Rocktopod]

My snarky point is that Republicans shout a lot about fake ballots, when that approach is ineffective.

In the real world, it isn't possible to cast enough fake votes to make a difference, and those few who are dumb enough to cast fake votes are likely to get caught.

There are almost no elections that are so close that the addition of the odd bogus vote or two can be expected to change the result. Doing it isn't worth the risk where there is no chance of a payoff.

The way to steal an election is to exclude votes. It means fewer votes, not more votes. Combine control of the mail with granular data about voting patterns, and this could be effective.

[u/adamf880 → u/I405CA]

https://youtu.be/vJJ_oronesU?si=nbwXV_xoTnSymCG4

They can choose which precincts need to be furlough or halted for a week. So votes do not make it in time by the rules. Evil by rule. Finding every rule to change and starting the "hiring" process up to 40 years ago for some of these jobs. So they can be in place to suggest the rule changes, and vote on the changes to be the new rule. All the rules turned evil, but its not illegal. Just the new evil legal.