Supreme Court allows Trump administration to advance mail-voting changes ahead of 2026 midterms
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The 6-3 ruling lifts a block on parts of Trump’s election order but does not decide whether the policies are lawful.
The U.S. Supreme Court has cleared the Trump administration to move forward with key parts of its plan to change federal mail-voting procedures ahead of the November 2026 midterm elections.
In a 6-3 decision on Monday, the court allowed the administration to move forward with key parts of President Donald Trump’s March executive order that seeks to tighten federal election and mail-ballot procedures. The ruling lifted a lower-court injunction that had prevented federal agencies from implementing portions of the order in 23 Democratic-led states and Washington, D.C. However, according to CBS, the Supreme Court did not determine that Trump’s policies are lawful. Instead, the justices found that the states had challenged the executive order too early.
The executive order directs the Department of Homeland Security to develop state citizenship lists using federal databases. It also directs the U.S. Postal Service to establish new procedures for federal mail ballots, including requirements that state election officials must submit. The Postal Service has already issued a final rule outlining some of these changes. Under the rule, states would provide information about voters they intend to send mail ballots to. The Postal Service would then create state-specific lists showing which voters were mailed ballots.
The agency says the lists would primarily help election officials and law enforcement identify potentially unusual voting activity. The Trump administration has framed the changes as election-security measures designed to prevent ineligible voters from participating in federal elections.
Shortly after Trump signed the executive order, 23 states and Washington, D.C., sued. They argued that the president does not have constitutional authority to dictate how states administer elections or determine voter eligibility. A federal district judge sided with the states in June and blocked portions of the order affecting DHS and the Postal Service.
The dispute is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to increase federal involvement in election security and citizenship verification. For now, the Supreme Court’s decision allows the administration to proceed. But whether individual measures ultimately survive constitutional challenges remains an open question.