What happens with the nation’s highest court’s rules could have a major impact on this year’s midterm elections.
Published September 6, 2026
President Donald Trump’s administration has again appealed to the Supreme Court to approve new restrictions on mail-in voting ahead of November’s midterm elections.
Two days after a federal judge blocked the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) from enforcing Trump’s executive order, the administration on Sunday escalated the matter to the nation’s highest court, asking the justices to temporarily allow the service to track mail-in ballots and determine whether they will be rejected. The legal battle continues, even though some states have already begun shipping mail-in ballots.
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U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani issued an order Friday saying President Trump’s directives giving the federal government authority to handle mail-in ballots likely violate the Constitution. In the United States, elections involving federal positions are conducted by each state.
The judge also criticized the timing of the executive order, writing that it “threatens to disenfranchise millions of Americans who seek to vote by mail” just two months before Election Day.
But the Trump administration disputed Talwani’s decision in an emergency filing Sunday, saying, “Contrary to the district court’s and respondents’ claims that the Postal Service is seeking to federalize mail-in voting rules, the Postal Service’s final regulations impose only modest envelope design and address information requirements on federal election ballots sent by U.S. mail.”
U.S. Attorney General John Sauer, who is arguing the case before the Supreme Court on behalf of the federal government, said Trump’s order does not seize control of states’ election administrations, but only imposes “reasonable preparation requirements” on mail-in voting.
“[The rule]requires states to upload to an online portal the names, addresses, and barcode information of the intended recipients of ballot mail, information that election officials necessarily already have in order to send ballot mail to recipients under the rule,” Sauer wrote in the filing. “This rule ensures that states remain responsible for determining voter eligibility and eligibility to vote by mail; it does not prescribe the contents of a ballot, deadlines for mailing or receipt, or vote-counting procedures.”
Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson set a Wednesday deadline for a response to the Trump administration’s request.
Sunday’s filing marks the third time the Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to intervene. A court recently allowed the plan to move forward, but did not rule on whether it was legal.
How the Supreme Court rules on the appeal could have major implications as it takes control of the U.S. Congress in November.
Trump has sought to restrict mail-in voting during his time in office, falsely claiming widespread fraud, even though he himself votes by mail. Opponents say the president’s motives are simpler: Democrats vote more by mail than Republicans.
An analysis conducted by the Center for United Democracy found that many voters, regardless of their party affiliation, cast their ballots by mail. The study found that one in four registered Democrats and one in five registered Republicans voted by mail in the 2024 presidential election.
