North Carolina began mailing ballots to voters two weeks ago, and the deadline for states to transmit requested ballots to overseas military voters is tomorrow. So the Supreme Court had ample reason to conclude that there is not enough time for states to comply with President Donald Trump’s new mail-in ballot regulations this year.

But the timing question is separate from the underlying legal one: Does the U.S. Postal Service have authority to regulate the marking, preparation, and tracking of mail-in ballots? Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s concurrence shows he believes that it does.