The US Supreme Court on Monday rejected the Trump administration’s request to lift a judicial block on new mail-in voting rules before the midterm elections.
In an unsigned order, the court said the administration “is unlikely to succeed on the merits” of its challenge to a preliminary injunction issued by a federal judge in Boston. That injunction prevents a US Postal Service rule from being used in the elections.
The rule implemented an executive order President Donald Trump signed in March that imposed new requirements on mail-in voting.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh, a Trump appointee, wrote that there was “at least a fair prospect that the final rule falls within the Postal Service’s statutory authority,” but that applying it in the 2026 midterm elections “would be arbitrary and capricious in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act because state and local election officials do not have sufficient time to reasonably implement the rule before the elections.”
Two of the six conservative justices, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, dissented.
Democratic-led states sued to stop the executive order, arguing that under the US Constitution states retain broad control over the administration of elections. The postal workers’ union said clerks could not be trained in time. The Trump administration maintained the new rules were constitutional, arguing states cannot use federal mail for elections while claiming exemption from Postal Service rule-making authority.
About 30% of voters cast postal ballots in the general election two years ago. Some states have already begun sending mail-in ballots. Trump has repeatedly claimed without evidence that mail-in voting is prone to fraud, though he has voted by mail himself.