US Supreme Court sides with Trump administration on mail voting | Courts News
Supreme Court Allows Trump to Pursue Mail Voting Restrictions Ahead of Midterms
Published August 24, 2026
The U.S. Supreme Court has permitted President Donald Trump to advance his executive order aimed at limiting mail voting, despite uncertainty surrounding the implementation timeline ahead of the upcoming midterm elections in November.
The Court’s decision, delivered on Monday, leaves open the possibility for further legal challenges that could hinder the execution of Trump’s order. The ruling reflects the Court’s 6-3 conservative majority, with the three liberal justices dissenting.
Recently, the U.S. Postal Service detailed how it plans to enact the executive order, but time constraints are becoming critical as several states are set to start mailing ballots to voters within weeks.
Mail-in voting has consistently been a target for Trump, who has alleged that it contributes to electoral fraud, despite substantial evidence to the contrary and his own history of utilizing the mail-in voting system.
The executive order, signed in March, instructs the administration to compile lists of eligible voters and directs the Postal Service to dispatch mail ballots only to individuals on those lists. In response to this directive, Democratic officials from 23 states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit seeking to block the order. They argue that the Constitution grants states and Congress authority over election operations, contending that Trump’s changes could incite disorder and political manipulation.
“The consequences of allowing such transformative changes to take effect so close to this fall’s elections would be extreme,” attorneys for the states stated. Numerous state and local election officials also urged the justices to suspend the order while election preparations are currently in progress.
A judge in Massachusetts initially blocked the order’s implementation for those states, a decision upheld by an appeals court. Following that, she issued a nationwide injunction prohibiting the order.
The Trump administration appealed to the Supreme Court in late July on procedural grounds, claiming that the states filed their lawsuit prematurely. They also referred to another ruling from Washington that allowed the executive order to proceed. An appeals court supported that decision but left open the possibility of future legal action should the changes be put into place.
Federal attorneys contended that the Massachusetts ruling “blocks the government’s ability to finalize and implement the President’s proposed policies to promote election integrity for the upcoming federal elections.”
A dozen Republican-leaning states have sided with the federal government in their appeal to the Supreme Court, asserting that states should have input on the finalized voter lists.
The Supreme Court has previously ruled against arguments supporting Trump’s position on mail-in ballots. In June, it determined that states may count ballots arriving after Election Day. That case was resolved following full briefings and arguments, as opposed to the Court’s emergency docket.
Trump has perpetuated unfounded claims of widespread electoral fraud, including in relation to his 2020 loss to Democrat Joe Biden. He has been advocating for the Republican-controlled Congress to pass the contested SAVE America Act, which includes a mandate for proof of citizenship to vote, even though noncitizen voting is exceedingly rare and carries severe legal penalties.
The popularity of mail-in ballots has surged among voters from both parties, with approximately 30 percent of all ballots cast via mail during the 2024 presidential election, according to federal data. A study conducted by the Brookings Institution in 2025 indicated that fraud in mail balloting is exceptionally low, with only four reported cases of fraud per every 10 million mail ballots cast.
