The US Supreme Court ruled on August 24, 2026, that the Trump administration can proceed with an executive order restricting mail-in voting before the November midterm elections. The 6-3 decision along ideological lines lifted a lower court stay blocking the order in states suing to stop it [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6].
President Donald Trump signed the executive order in March 2026, directing the Department of Homeland Security to create lists of eligible voters and requiring the US Postal Service to deliver mail ballots only to voters on those "state citizenship lists" [1, 2, 4, 5, 7]. Twenty-three mostly Democratic-led states and the District of Columbia sued, arguing the Constitution gives states and Congress—not the president—the authority to regulate elections [1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 6].
A Massachusetts district judge initially blocked the order’s enforcement in the plaintiff states, with an appeals court upholding that block before the Supreme Court lifted the stay for parts of the order [1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 6]. The Supreme Court majority said, "The District Court lacked jurisdiction to bar the Government from trying to implement the executive order," but added the legality of the order itself remains to be determined over time [5].
Trump has repeatedly claimed, without evidence, that mail-in voting leads to widespread fraud, calling mail ballots "inherently corrupt," despite his own use of mail voting including in Florida earlier this year [1, 2, 3, 8, 5, 7]. Around 25% of registered Democrats and 20% of Republicans voted by mail in 2024, and about one third of Americans used mail ballots nationally [1, 8].
The ruling could lead to more court challenges ahead. There is uncertainty about how quickly the Trump administration can implement the restrictions before the midterms given some states have already started distributing mail ballots [1, 3, 4]. Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the decision "a disgrace," accusing Trump of trying to suppress votes to avoid accountability for his administration’s "skyrocketing costs, illegal war, and rampant corruption" [5]. California Governor Gavin Newsom announced plans to file a new lawsuit against the order on August 25 [5, 7].
