Trump Mail Ballot Appeal Tests Decades-Old Voting Principle
The justices are considering whether to let the administration proceed with new voter-verification and ballot-interception rules before the November midterms, a move states say is too late to challenge.
- On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court weighed President Donald Trump's emergency appeal to lift an injunction blocking his March 31, 2026, mail-voting order affecting 23 states and the District of Columbia ahead of the November 3, 2026, midterms.
- President Trump signed the executive order on March 31, 2026, requiring states to submit eligible voter lists to the U.S. Postal Service and directing the Department of Homeland Security to compile citizen lists and bar ballot distribution to non-enrolled voters.
- U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani barred implementation of the provisions, citing potential harm to election administration; Solicitor General John Sauer argued the dispute is not yet "ripe" because agencies have not finalized implementation plans.
- With the injunction currently in place, the Supreme Court has not yet granted a stay as the case tests the 20-year-old Purcell principle, which warns federal courts against making last-minute changes to election rules.
- Legal experts note the court's handling of this dispute could shape how it manages election litigation ahead of the 2028 presidential race, as justices determine whether the Purcell principle applies to novel federal election policies.
58 Articles
58 Articles
Fears Over Mail-in Ballot Access in the US
Click to expand Image People demonstrate against proposed changes to the US Postal Service and President Donald Trump's executive order regarding mail-in ballots, Miami, Florida, July 28, 2026. © 2026 Marta Lavandier/AP Photo A coalition of voting rights organizations renewed a motion for preliminary injunction on July 20 in Massachusetts to prevent the United States Postal Service (USPS) from implementing parts of President Donald Trump’s Exec…
Millhiser: Will court enforce Constitution?
A court case involving President Donald Trump’s efforts to sabotage voting by mail reached the Supreme Court last week. The executive order at the heart of Trump v. California is one of many attempts by Trump and his Republican Party to make it harder for voters to mail their ballots and to potentially invalidate lawfully cast ballots that are submitted by mail.
Colorado Newsline
Democratic state officials urge US Supreme Court to affirm pause on Trump vote-by-mail order
The U.S. Supreme Court on April 9, 2026. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom) WASHINGTON — States do not have time before November’s midterm elections to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive order mandating overhauls of their mail-in-voting systems, two dozen Democratic state officials told the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday. Justices should keep a stay pausing the order in place through Election Day, the Democrats, led by California…
States challenging executive order on mail-in voting ask justices to leave in place limits on its implementation
Lawyers for a group of 23 states and the District of Columbia on Monday afternoon urged the Supreme Court to leave in place an order by a federal court in Boston that barred the federal government from applying provisions of an executive order on mail-in voting to those states in the November elections. In a 45-page filing, the challengers told the justices that granting a request to pause the lower court’s order “would allow the federal governm…
Expert offers prediction ahead of Supreme Court ruling
Former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance warned Sunday that the Supreme Court may rule this week on President Donald Trump's appeal seeking to block a lower court order preventing new postal rules from restricting mail-in ballots. The Trump administration's rules would prohibit the Postal Service from creating a national voter database and limit mail-in ballots to people on an approved list. The filing, made less than 100 days before the midterm el…
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