Trump’s promise to count all votes by election night stalls amid court challenges to executive order

President Donald Trump has criticized voting by mail and called for speeding up election results, but he made no progress on his promise to ensure all votes are counted by election night. 

In March, Trump issued an executive order that said only mail ballots received by Election Day can be counted. If states don't comply, the order said, they will lose access to federal Election Assistance Commission funding. The order made an exception for military and overseas voters.

A federal judge in June preliminarily blocked that provision and, on Sept. 17, denied the administration's request to dismiss the case. 

Most states require that mail ballots be received by Election Day. But about 16 states allow ballots to be counted if received after Election Day, as long as they were postmarked by Election Day, according to the National Vote at Home Institute. 

"The rationale is that a ballot postmarked by Election Day is legally and validly cast, and that providing a grace period to allow for delivery issues with the (U.S. Postal Service) is a way to maximize voter enfranchisement," said Barbara Smith Warner, National Vote At Home Institute executive director.

In a statement to PolitiFact, the White House pointed to federal laws establishing Election Day as the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. Trump wants to ensure that all states abide by the same deadline, the White House said.

The 19 states suing the administration wrote in their complaint that the Constitution gives states the primary responsibility to regulate elections.

"Congress may preempt State elections law for federal contests but nowhere does the Constitution provide the President, or the Executive Branch, with any independent power to modify the States' procedures for conducting federal elections," the states wrote.

In June, U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper in Massachusetts sided with the states and issued a preliminary injunction blocking the ballot receipt deadline among other sections in the executive order. The Trump administration is appealing. Multiple state attorneys general, all Democrats, filed the lawsuit.

Casper, an Obama appointee, wrote that there is nothing barring states from counting ballots in accordance with their laws. 

"The Constitution does not grant the President any specific powers over elections," Casper wrote.

The Election Assistance Commission distributes funding to states for voting equipment and other election needs under the Help America Vote Act. Nothing in that law adds conditions for states to receive election funding to their ballot receipt deadline "and the President does not have the authority to direct the EAC to impose such a condition," Casper wrote.

Casper's preliminary injunction was more expansive than one by a U.S. District Court judge in a separate case challenging the order.

Trump has often called for speeding up election results.

In Aug. 18 remarks, Trump said with voting machines, "They say we're going to have the results in two weeks. With paper ballots, you have the results that night." That's False. 

Trump's promise to count all votes by election night is one of 75 campaign promises we are tracking on our MAGA-Meter. His promise is Stalled. 

RELATED: Do voting machines delay election results? No, Trump's wrong about paper ballot counting