A voter drops their ballot at an official ballot drop box inside City Hall during a primary election in San Francisco, California, US, on Tuesday, June 2, 2026.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The Trump administration on Monday asked the Supreme Court to intervene in a legal fight over President Donald Trump’s executive order restricting mail-in voting, escalating the dispute 99 days before the November midterm elections.
The emergency request came after a federal appeals court, in a 2-1 decision Saturday, left in place an order blocking key parts of Trump’s executive order issued in March that directs federal agencies to create voter eligibility lists and restrict U.S. Postal Service delivery of ballots not tied to those lists.
A coalition of 23 states argue Trump lacks authority to impose federal rules on elections administered by state and local officials.
The Department of Justice argued that the challenge was premature because agencies had not finalized the policies needed to carry out Trump’s order. But the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said states were already being forced to prepare for changes that could affect upcoming elections.
The majority said the order would impose “unprecedented levels of involvement by federal officials in how states administer elections” and risk confusion and voter disenfranchisement.
The ruling applies only to the states covered by the lawsuit. A separate federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., recently lifted a broader injunction against the Postal Service rule, leaving open the possibility that the Postal Service could implement the restrictions elsewhere.
Trump and his allies have promoted the changes as safeguards against illegal voting. Democrats and voting-rights groups say the order could prevent eligible voters from receiving or returning mail ballots.
The change is one component of the effort Trump is leading in the months leading up to the Nov. 3 election to make sweeping changes to how elections are conducted in the U.S. He has also been pressing Congress to pass legislation to impose a national voter-ID requirement to vote and proof of citizenship to register to vote.
The Constitution directs states, rather than the federal government, to administer most election oversight.
The White House and Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.