Supreme Court rejects Trump's plan to limit mail-in voting

The US Supreme Court has rejected President Donald Trump's plan to restrict voting by mail ahead of the November midterm elections, marking a setback for the White House. The justices upheld a federal judge's order that temporarily blocked the US Postal Service (USPS) from implementing new requirements for postal ballots. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, a conservative, concurred with the ruling but suggested he might later rule in favor of Trump as litigation continues. Trump had argued that the rules would help combat electoral fraud and signed an executive order in March directing the USPS to deliver ballots only to voters on lists of citizens. Legal challenges contended that this move violated states' constitutional rights to conduct elections. Kavanaugh noted in his opinion that there was "at least a fair prospect that the final rule falls within the Postal Service's statutory authority," but he also stated that applying the rule in the 2026 elections would be arbitrary and capricious. Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented, describing the challenge to Trump's order as a "Hail Mary pass" unlikely to succeed. They emphasized that the Postal Service has broad authority to regulate mail. The White House did not immediately comment on the decision. Approximately 30% of voters, predominantly Democrats, cast postal ballots in the general election two years ago. Since returning to the White House, Trump has sought to limit mail-in voting, despite having voted by mail himself. His executive order in March mandated unique barcodes on postal ballot envelopes and required state and local election officials to provide information to an online portal about voters receiving mail ballots. Twenty-three states and Washington DC filed lawsuits to block Trump's order, with the postal workers' union arguing that clerks could not be trained in time for the election. The Trump administration maintained that the new USPS rules were constitutional, asserting that states cannot use federal mail for elections while claiming exemption from the Postal Service's rule-making authority. Judge Indira Talwani imposed an injunction on September 4, blocking Trump's order, ruling that implementing the measures close to the elections could disenfranchise voters. A US appeals court recently declined to suspend Talwani's order, and another federal judge, Carl Nichols, ruled against Trump's order. Some states have already begun distributing mail-in ballots ahead of the midterm elections, which will determine control of Congress. This is not the first setback for Trump regarding postal ballots at the Supreme Court; in June, the justices ruled that states may count ballots postmarked by election day, rejecting the Trump administration's efforts to block votes received after polls close. Trump has previously made claims that he lost the 2020 election due to widespread electoral fraud.