US Supreme Court allows Trump administration to press ahead with mail-in voting crackdown

The US Supreme Court has cleared the way for President Donald Trump's administration to move forward with a nationwide effort to restrict mail-in voting, granting the government's emergency appeal. It remains uncertain how the administration will manage to put the ruling into practice before November's midterm elections, and the decision leaves the door open to further legal disputes.

A citizenship-based voter list

Back in March, Trump directed the government to compile a so-called "state citizenship list" of eligible voters, mandating that mail-in ballots be sent only to people on that list. Trump has frequently compared mail-in voting to fraud, despite having voted by mail himself, and his administration has repeatedly sought to curb the practice.

The legal battle so far

Democratic officials from 23 states and the District of Columbia challenged the March order, arguing that under the US Constitution, the power to set election rules belongs to the states and Congress, not the president. A federal judge in Massachusetts blocked the order in the states that brought the lawsuit — roughly half the country — and a panel of the First Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that ruling. The Supreme Court has now upheld it as well.

Timing and stakes

The dispute over voting procedures is unfolding less than 100 days before the November midterms, which will determine the balance of power in the Senate and House of Representatives. According to the States United Democracy Center, Democratic voters have historically been more likely to vote by mail than Republicans — in 2024, about one in four registered Democrats did so, compared with roughly one in five registered Republicans.