Trump Requests Supreme Court Review of Blocked Mail-Voting Executive Order

President Donald Trump on Monday petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn district-court and appellate rulings that halted implementation of a March executive order targeting mail voting. The order would require states to submit lists of eligible mail voters to the U.S. Postal Service, which would be barred from sending ballots to anyone not on those lists, and would mandate individualized tracking barcodes on ballot envelopes. It also calls for federal prosecution of state officials who send or receive ballots to non-citizens or otherwise ineligible voters.

The administration framed the directive as "general policy guidance" and argued that the Postal Service has not yet issued final regulations. Twenty-three states with Democratic leadership contend that election administration is constitutionally a state responsibility and that the order exceeds presidential authority. A federal district court blocked the order for the 2024 election, a decision upheld by the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The appeals court noted that local election officials have already diverted resources to assess compliance, including purchasing ballot envelopes, thereby impacting other election-related tasks. One Trump-appointed judge concurred that states could challenge the envelope requirement but would have allowed the Department of Homeland Security to provide voter eligibility lists to states, as the order does not compel state officials to act on that information.

In its brief, U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer told the Supreme Court that the executive order "does not require the states to do (or refrain from doing) anything at all" and that the request seeks an immediate administrative stay of the lower-court rulings. The Court has set a response deadline of August 3.