The U.S. Supreme Court has blocked a Trump administration plan to restrict mail-in voting ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. In a 7-2 decision, the court rejected an emergency appeal to lift a lower court injunction against a U.S. Postal Service regulation. The proposed rule would have allowed the Postal Service to refuse delivery of ballots from states failing to provide voter lists or use specific envelope designs. While Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented, Justice Brett Kavanaugh concurred with the majority, noting that implementing the rules so close to the election would cause severe disruption. President Donald Trump criticized the ruling as highly political.
Supreme Court blocks USPS restrictions
- ▪The Supreme Court majority stated in its order that the Trump administration was unlikely to succeed on the merits of its legal challenge regarding the Postal Service regulation
- ▪The U.S. Supreme Court issued an order on September 14, 2026, blocking a U.S. Postal Service regulation that would have restricted mail-in voting ahead of the November midterm elections
- ▪The Supreme Court's unsigned order rejected an emergency application from the Trump administration to lift a lower court injunction that halted the mail-in ballot regulation
Trump executive order on ballots
- ▪President Donald Trump signed an executive order in March 2026 directing the U.S. Postal Service to develop new rules to restrict mail-in and absentee ballot deliveries
- ▪Under the proposed regulation, the U.S. Postal Service would have been authorized to refuse delivery of mail-in ballots that did not comply with the new rules
- ▪The blocked U.S. Postal Service regulation would have required states to submit lists of eligible voters to the Postal Service and use specific envelope designs with unique barcodes
State lawsuits against administration
- ▪A coalition of 23 states, led by California, filed a lawsuit to block the Trump administration's mail-in ballot restrictions, calling the rules unprecedented and unconstitutional
- ▪U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Postal Service regulation, ruling that the agency lacked the authority to control mail-in voting
- ▪U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols blocked the Postal Service rules in separate lawsuits brought by the NAACP and Democratic groups, finding the rules exceeded the agency's authority
Justice Alito Thomas dissents
- ▪Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented from the majority, stating they would have granted the Trump administration's request to pause the lower court injunction
- ▪Justice Samuel Alito complained that courts, including the Supreme Court itself, were partly to blame for deciding the case close to the election because they took too long
- ▪Justice Samuel Alito wrote in his dissent that the U.S. Postal Service has broad authority to regulate the mail and likely possessed the power to enforce the restrictions
Trump criticizes Court decision
- ▪President Donald Trump criticized the Supreme Court's decision on Truth Social, calling it a 'horrible, highly political' ruling and a 'big loss for Republicans.'
- ▪President Donald Trump criticized Supreme Court Justices he nominated, stating they were 'merely a shell of their original selves' and praised Justices Alito and Thomas as 'legends.'
Midterm election timing concerns
- ▪Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote a concurring opinion stating that implementing the Postal Service regulation so close to the midterm elections would violate the Administrative Procedure Act
- ▪Several states, including Alabama, North Carolina, and Wisconsin, had already begun sending out mail-in ballots to voters before the Supreme Court issued its September 14, 2026 ruling
- ▪State election officials, including Utah Lieutenant Governor Deidre Henderson, warned that implementing the Postal Service rules weeks before the election would cause delays and confusion
Debatable claims
- ▪Courts should block election rule changes enacted close to voting deadlines
- ▪The US Postal Service has legal authority to set binding national rules for mail-in ballots
- ▪The federal government should mandate uniform security requirements for mail-in ballots
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