Voting by mail has long been a favorite target of US President Donald Trump.
Published August 24, 2026
The U.S. Supreme Court has cleared the way for President Donald Trump to move forward with an executive order restricting mail-in voting, but it remains unclear how far the Trump administration will be able to go before the upcoming midterm elections in November.
Monday’s decision appears to leave room for additional court challenges that could further delay President Trump’s order. The court has a 6-3 conservative majority. Three liberal justices dissented from the decision.
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The U.S. Postal Service revealed last week how it would implement the order, but time is running out for major changes, with some states starting shipping mail-in ballots to voters in just a few weeks.
Voting by mail has been a favorite target of President Trump, who has argued that it breeds fraud despite strong evidence to the contrary and his own use of voting methods.
The case could be one of several voting-related challenges before judges. The U.S. Department of Justice had filed an emergency appeal asking the high court to allow work to implement the changes before the midterm elections.
President Trump’s executive order, signed in March, requires the administration to create a list of voters and orders the U.S. Postal Service to deliver mail-in ballots only to those on that list.
Democratic officials in 23 states and the District of Columbia have filed suit to block the order. They argued that the U.S. Constitution gives states and Congress the power to conduct elections, and Trump’s changes could lead to confusion and partisan abuse.
“The consequences of allowing these changes to take place so close to elections this fall will be severe,” lawyers for both states wrote. Dozens of state and local election officials agreed, asking the justices to keep the order frozen while preparations for the election have already begun.
A judge in the US state of Massachusetts has blocked plans for midterm elections in those states. The Court of Appeals upheld her decision. She then issued a second order blocking it nationwide.
In late July, the Trump administration appealed to the Supreme Court on procedural grounds, arguing that the states’ lawsuits were premature. They also pointed to another ruling in Washington where a judge allowed President Trump’s order to proceed. The Court of Appeals upheld the decision, but left room for future court action if the changes were implemented.
Federal prosecutors argued that the Massachusetts order “impedes the government’s ability to finalize and implement the President’s proposed policies to promote election integrity in the lead-up to the November federal election.”
More than a dozen Republican-leaning states sided with the federal government in their own high court appeals, arguing that each state would be reflected in the final voter list.
The Supreme Court has previously ruled against pro-Trump arguments regarding mail-in voting, ruling in June that states can count ballots that arrive after Election Day. This case was not decided on the court’s emergency docket, but after thorough explanation and argument.
President Trump, who has falsely claimed there was widespread fraud in U.S. elections, including his loss to Democrat Joe Biden in 2020, has pressed the Republican-controlled Congress to pass a controversial voting restriction package called the SAVE America Act.
He has also repeatedly called for the passage of legislation that would require proof of citizenship to vote. Voting by a non-citizen is known to be rare and is a felony that can result in deportation.
Voting by mail has become increasingly popular among voters of both parties, with about 30% of all ballots cast by mail in the 2024 presidential election, according to federal data. This process is also safe. A 2025 Brookings Institution study found only about 4 cases of fraud per 10 million mail-in ballots.
