A federal appeals court has blocked the Trump administration from enforcing key parts of an executive order tightening mail-in voting rules across 23 Democratic-led states, dealing a setback to the White House's efforts to change election procedures ahead of the midterm elections. The ruling maintains the status quo on mail ballot handling in those states while legal challenges to the order continue, and comes amid a broader pattern of judicial pushback against several of Trump's election-related initiatives.

The order, issued by Trump, had sought to impose stricter requirements on how mail-in ballots are processed and counted, a move critics argued oversteps federal authority over state-run elections. The appeals court's decision on Saturday means the disputed provisions cannot be enforced while litigation proceeds, leaving existing mail voting rules in place in the affected states as the midterms approach. The case forms part of wider tensions between the administration and courts over election integrity measures, including separate rulings on voter verification databases and registration disputes in various states.