The recent initial endorsement by the U.S. Supreme Court of President Donald Trump’s restrictions on mail-in voting has cast doubt on the voting method used by nearly one-third of the country, although it may not result in any immediate changes for the upcoming November midterms. The majority of the high court stated on Monday, in an unsigned order, that while the constitutionality of Trump’s order is yet to be determined, the states challenging it did not have the legal standing to do so.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented, cautioning that the decision introduces unnecessary chaos and uncertainty into the upcoming midterms. Trump’s executive order, issued in March, directs his administration to compile lists of eligible voters and instructs the U.S. Postal Service to only deliver mail-in ballots to individuals on those lists.
A separate injunction preventing the postal service from implementing changes to comply with the order remains in place. However, the administration filed a motion late Monday seeking to lift the injunction and has issued new regulations that would come into effect once the legal hurdles are cleared. These regulations mandate specific envelope formatting for mail ballots, potentially requiring jurisdictions to overhaul their processes, and necessitate states to utilize an electronic system to identify mail voters to the postal service, with non-compliance resulting in ballots not being sent.
U.S. elections are managed by local officials in numerous offices, many lacking full-time staff. Tammy Patrick, the chief program officer at the Elections Center, an association of 2,500 election officers, emphasized the impracticality of states adhering to the new rules, noting that no state has attempted to do so due to the unprecedented nature of the requirements.
Earlier this year, the Trump administration dismantled the Federal Election Assistance Commission, a bipartisan entity aiding election officials nationwide that oversees the national mail voter registration form. In 2024, 29% of Americans voted by mail according to the commission’s findings. Jesse Salinas, the registrar of Yolo County in California, and president of the state’s association of election officers, highlighted that ballots in his state are scheduled to be sent out in 11 days, with envelopes already printed.
Efforts by the White House to implement new voting restrictions by executive order were thwarted by judges last year. This year, the Save America Act, a bill aiming to revamp voting procedures, faced Senate opposition, with Republicans advising the administration that it lacked the necessary support for passage. Trump’s administration also faced setbacks when the Supreme Court ruled that states can count ballots arriving after election day, following Trump’s unfounded claims of election irregularities in California.
The administration’s attempts to obtain voter information from various states have been met with legal resistance, with federal judges rejecting multiple requests, citing violations of privacy laws. Despite Trump’s success in elections featuring high mail-in ballot percentages, he has consistently criticized the practice, alleging potential fraud. Democrats now favor mail voting more than Republicans, a trend that has become more pronounced since Trump entered national politics.
While instances of voter fraud exist, they are typically isolated incidents. There is no substantial evidence supporting Trump’s claims of widespread fraud, such as millions of unauthorized votes cast in the 2016 election or the rigging of the 2020 election against him.