GOP election law expert: Many more ‘low propensity voters in Republican Party’ after Trump mail-in voting ruling

Election law attorney Ben Ginsberg said Monday that President Trump’s executive order imposing restrictions on mail-in voting will largely impact Republican voters.

“One thing is, I think you’re going to see some blowback from Republicans in the coming weeks, because after all, Republicans are the older party and older folks like to vote by mail. They’re the rural party,” Ginsberg said during a Monday appearance on CNN’s “The Source.”

“And certainly vote by mail is important to people in rural areas. And thanks to Donald Trump, there are many more low propensity voters in the Republican Party,” he added.

Ginsberg has served as counsel to the Republican National Committee, National Republican Senatorial Committee, National Republican Congressional Committee and Republican Governors Association.

His Monday comments follow the Supreme Court’s decision to issue an unsigned order in which the majority determined that Democratic states’ legal challenges to Trump’s executive order overhauling mail-in voting were premature.

“The States lack standing to challenge. … It does nothing to them,” the majority opinion says .

One of the clauses in the president’s order would require states to provide a list of eligible voters to the U.S. Postal Service for distribution and prevent the agency from distributing ballots to those excluded from the list.

“Section 3 orders the Postal Service to initiate the process of proposing a rule that might bind the States in the future. It is not a proposed rule, let alone a final rule,” the majority opinion says.

“And it imposes no legal requirements on the States (or, for that matter, on anyone outside the Executive Branch),” it continues.

Trump’s order has twice been blocked by lower courts and has faced pushback from both Republicans and Democrats alike.

“Republican operatives in the states know that putting up those barriers to that part of the Republican base makes Republican turnout less likely,” Ginsburg said Monday.

“So this is kind of a flawed political strategy wrapped in a rather vocally charged policy from the president,” he added.

Despite criticism, the Trump administration moved forward with an appeal Tuesday to lift the nationwide block on the executive order restricting mail-in ballots.