Supreme Court backs Trump’s move to restrict mail-in voting ahead of crucial midterm elections
Developed over time first seen 2 months ago
The US Supreme Court has sided with Donald Trump over his executive order restricting mail-in voting, handing his administration a significant win ahead of the November midterms. The conservative-majority court did not rule on the legality of the order itself, but found that the Democratic-led states and the District of Columbia challenging it lacked the legal standing to do so, with the three liberal justices dissenting; the majority noted this does not guarantee any future implementation measures will be lawful. The ruling leaves the door open to further legal challenges, and similar cases have already been filed, while the White House hailed the decision, with spokeswoman Lauren Bid calling it "a major win for the security of American elections."
Trump's March order directs officials to compile lists of eligible voters and instructs the US Postal Service to deliver mail ballots only to those on the lists. Twenty-three states and Washington DC sued, arguing the Constitution gives states and Congress control over elections and warning of chaos if the changes proceeded so close to the vote; a Massachusetts judge had blocked the order, a ruling upheld on appeal, before she extended the block nationwide. The Justice Department successfully appealed on procedural grounds, and with the Postal Service having already outlined implementation plans and some states due to begin sending mail ballots within weeks, time remains tight to carry out the changes before the midterms.
- Supreme Court lets Trump's mail-in voting order proceed on procedural grounds
- Justices ruled states lacked standing, not on the order's legality
- Postal Service plans move ahead as midterm ballot mailings near
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The row centres on how Americans vote by post, a method used by tens of millions of people in US elections, especially since it expanded during the coronavirus pandemic. President Donald Trump signed an executive order in March that would limit mail-in voting by requiring officials to draw up lists of approved voters and telling the postal service to send ballots only to people on those lists. Elections in the US are normally run by individual states rather than the federal government, which is why the change proved so contentious.
Officials from 23 states plus Washington DC, most of them Democrats, took the administration to court, arguing that the constitution puts states and Congress in charge of election rules, not the president. A federal judge in Massachusetts initially blocked the order, and that decision was upheld on appeal, before the case reached the Supreme Court, the highest court in the country.
The dispute matters because it touches on both the balance of power between the president and the states, and the practical mechanics of voting ahead of the midterm elections, the nationwide votes held partway through a president's term that determine control of Congress. Mail ballots for some states are due to go out within weeks, so any changes to the rules have to happen on a tight timetable while further legal challenges continue.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Supporters of the order argue that maintaining accurate, verified lists of eligible voters is a reasonable safeguard for ballot integrity, and that directing the Postal Service to deliver mail ballots only to confirmed names helps prevent errors or misuse in a system that has expanded rapidly in recent years. They see the Supreme Court's ruling as a sound, narrow application of standing doctrine rather than a judgment on the policy itself, reflecting a judicial system properly declining to intervene until a party can show concrete harm. Many also view voter-list verification as consistent with the federal government's legitimate interest in uniform, trustworthy election administration nationwide.
The case against
Opponents argue the order intrudes on a domain the Constitution assigns chiefly to the states and Congress, and that abrupt changes to mail-ballot procedures so close to an election risk confusing voters, delaying ballots, and disenfranchising eligible citizens who rely on postal voting, including the elderly, disabled, and those overseas. They see the standing ruling as a troubling procedural shortcut that avoids the substantive legal question while allowing a contested policy to proceed with real-world consequences during implementation. For them, protecting broad, reliable access to the ballot box is a foundational democratic value that should not be subordinated to eleventh-hour administrative changes ahead of a major election.
More coverage
- The Hill — Jackson calls Supreme Court’s mail-in voting ruling a ‘Kafkaesque nightmare’
- NPR — Trump calls leaders to isolate Iran. And, SCOTUS backs Trump for now on mail-in voting
- Fox News — Jackson rips into Supreme Court colleagues' 'serious legal error' on Trump mail-in voting order
- Wired — The Supreme Court’s Mail-In Ballot Ruling Is a Step Toward Chaos in the Midterms
- The Hill — Democratic governors react to Supreme Court ruling on mail-in voting: 'States run elections, not Donald Trump'
- The Hill — Pelosi: Trump’s effort to control mail-in voting 'threatens to silence' voters