Supreme Court Pauses Lower Court Block on Trump Mail-Voting Order
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The U.S. Supreme Court granted an emergency stay that suspends a district court ruling blocking key parts of President Trump’s executive order aimed at restricting mail-in voting in 23 states and Washington, D.C., while the legality of the order remains unsettled.
The Supreme Court issued an unsigned emergency order on Monday that temporarily halts a district-court decision that had blocked major provisions of President Donald Trump’s executive order to limit mail-in voting for the upcoming midterm elections. The stay applies to 23 states and the District of Columbia, but the Court did not address the underlying legality of the order.
The lower-court ruling, issued by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in June, found that the president exceeded constitutional authority, which reserves election-rule setting to state legislatures and Congress. The Supreme Court’s action grants the administration and 12 Republican-led states a pause on that ruling while the legal challenges continue.
Three liberal justices dissented. Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote that the order’s structure and the government’s representations warranted emergency relief, and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson warned that the decision creates “chaos and uncertainty” for the midterms and leaves states without clear guidance on when to bring election-law challenges.
New York Attorney General Letitia James said the states will continue to explore legal options, describing the decision as a setback but not the final word on the issue.
Trump’s order directs the Department of Homeland Security to compile state lists of adult U.S. citizens and requires the Postal Service to deliver ballots only to those on the lists, with additional barcode requirements for ballot envelopes. The Postal Service has issued a final rule responding to the order, though implementation timelines remain tight.
U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer noted that the short window before absentee voting begins may not allow sufficient time to resolve the disputes through the courts.
The broader litigation over the order, including separate lawsuits filed by Democrats and voting-rights groups, is expected to continue as the November election approaches.