Trump asks US Supreme Court to allow mail-in voting restrictions
The Trump administration has petitioned the US Supreme Court to overturn a lower court ruling blocking mail-in voting restrictions outlined in a March executive order. The order directed federal agencies to create voter eligibility lists and required the Postal Service to deliver ballots only to approved voters, measures a federal judge ruled exceeded presidential authority over state election administration.
The Trump administration escalated its legal challenge to voting restrictions by appealing directly to the US Supreme Court after lower courts blocked implementation of sweeping mail-in ballot limitations. The emergency filing, submitted Monday through the Justice Department, seeks to pause a federal court injunction that had blocked portions of Trump's March executive order in 23 Democratic-led states and Washington, DC.
The executive order in question directed federal agencies to assist in developing state-level voter eligibility lists and mandated that the US Postal Service deliver mail ballots exclusively to individuals appearing on those lists. The order additionally instructed the Justice Department to prioritize investigations into election officials suspected of distributing ballots to ineligible voters. US District Judge Indira Talwani blocked these provisions in June, determining that Trump lacked constitutional authority to unilaterally alter how states administer federal elections, as the Constitution reserves voter-eligibility determinations to individual states.
After the First US Circuit Court of Appeals declined to pause the lower court ruling over the weekend, the administration pursued the Supreme Court path. In its petition, the administration characterized the executive order as general policy guidance rather than a binding directive, arguing that agencies were still deliberating implementation details. Solicitor General John Sauer urged the Court to act expeditiously, noting that the policy framework would need to be operational by August to take effect before November's midterm elections.
Trump has consistently asserted, without supporting evidence, that widespread voter fraud compromised the 2020 presidential election and has repeatedly questioned mail-in voting security despite research demonstrating that such fraud remains rare. Voting rights organizations have warned that restricting mail-in voting would disproportionately impact Democratic voters, who historically utilize mail ballots at higher rates than Republicans.
Bell watches registries and rules change in near-real-time.