Trump administration presses Supreme Court to allow order restricting mail-in voting
FILE-An official mail ballot drop box at a polling location inside PS 234 Independence School during a primary election in New York on Tuesday, June 23, 2026. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to clear a path for an executive order from President Donald Trump that might significantly alter mail-in voting before midterm elections in November.
Department of Justice officials requested that the justices stall lower court decisions blocking the changes in almost half the nation.
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According to The Associated Press, the request comes after Trump delivered a primetime address pushing his efforts to raise doubts about the legitimacy of elections and may be one of several voting-related challenges before the court ahead of the midterm elections.
The administration’s appeal argues that Trump's executive order details "general policy guidance" and doesn’t directly control how states run their elections.
Trump mail-in voting restrictions
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In March, President Donald Trump ordered the federal government to create a "state citizenship list" of eligible voters and deliver mail ballots only to people on that list.
Democratic officials in 23 states and Washington, D.C. sued, stating the Constitution gives states and Congress the authority to set election rules, not the president.
The Associated Press reported that a judge in Massachusetts blocked the executive order for the plaintiff states, and a divided 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel left her ruling in place over the weekend.
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Trump’s executive order calls for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the commissioner of the Social Security Administration to send state officials federal citizenship lists to determine eligible voters.
It also tells the U.S. Postal Service to deliver mail ballots only to people on the lists.
Additionally, the order calls for ballots to have secure envelopes with barcodes for tracking. Federal funding could be withheld from states that don’t comply with the order.
Mail ballots have become popular with voters of the Democratic and Republican parties, with roughly 30% of all ballots cast that way during the 2024 presidential election, the AP reported, citing federal data.
This method of voting is also secure with a 2025 Brookings Institution study revealing that only about four cases of fraud out of every 10 million mail ballots cast.
According to the AP, the Supreme Court has ruled against the Trump administration before on mail-in ballots, finding in June that states can count ballots that arrive after Election Day.
Trump has pushed the proposed changes in his executive order as safeguards to keep non-U.S. citizens from voting. He also urged for the passage of the legislation that requires proof of citizenship to vote.
The Source: Information for this story was provided by The Associated Press, which cites federal data and a Brookings Institution study. This story was reported from Washington, D.C.