Court Blocks Trump Executive Order Tightening Mail-In Voting Rules

A federal appeals court has delivered a significant blow to the Trump administration’s efforts to overhaul national voting procedures. The court ruled that the President lacks the constitutional authority to implement an executive order that would have required the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to deliver ballots only to voters on state-approved mail-in lists. The ruling emphasized that under the Constitution, states—not the executive branch—are primarily responsible for the administration of federal elections.

The legal challenge was brought by a coalition of 23 states and the District of Columbia, led by California and Massachusetts. The court found that the Department of Homeland Security and the USPS had no statutory authorization to adopt binding regulations on mail-in voting or to compile voter eligibility lists. This decision effectively halts the administration's attempt to use federal agencies to enforce barcodes and state-provided lists for the upcoming midterm elections, preserving the existing state-run systems for now.