Supreme Court Rules Trump Admin Can’t Restrict Vote by Mail

NEWS & RESEARCH

On September 14, 2026, a majority of the Supreme Court rejected the Trump administration’s attempt to direct the postal service to only deliver mail-in ballots to states that provided the administration a list of its registered voters. Two district judges had blocked the administration from enforcing Trump’s executive order (EO) requiring states to turn over their voter rolls, finding the EO to be unconstitutional. The Supreme Court, in an unsigned, one-paragraph decision, ruled that the administration was unlikely to win its case on the merits and left the injunctions in tact. Meanwhile, with the SAVE Act languishing in the Senate and lower courts unanimously blocking Trump’s efforts to mandate that states turn over their voter rolls in advance of the mid-term elections, on August 11, 2026, the president refused to rule out declaring a “national emergency” to federalize the mid-term elections.

SOURCES: Newsweek| The Hill | New York Times | CNN | Democracy Docket | Supreme Court decision

ANALYSIS & OPINION

The Court’s opinion was unsigned but was embraced by six justice, with Kavanaugh concurring in the outcome but opening a door for a future attack on mail-in voting, and Alito and Thomas dissenting. The Court upheld the decision Judge Indira Talwani, who had ruled the EO “clashes with Congress’s statutory scheme, and is unconstitutional where it intrudes not only on Congress’s Elections Clause powers but also that power left to the States.” Even short of declaring a national emergency, the Trump administration is pursuing a coordinated, 15-tactic strategy to subvert the 2026 midterm elections and entrench executive power beyond constitutional limits, according to authors Michael Sozan and Ben Olinsky. They argue the administration is using executive orders, law enforcement intimidation, legislative pressure, voter roll purges, and disinformation—rooted in claims of voter fraud—to manipulate voting rules, restrict voter access, and assert unprecedented federal control over state-run elections.

SOURCES: Democracy Docket | Center for American Progress | CNN

HOW TO FIX IT

Federal action:

• Block passage in the Senate of the SAVE Act, which would, among other things, require every American to provide burdensome documentation to register to vote in federal elections or change their voter registration, even though strict laws and safeguards already exist to ensure voters verify their eligibility. It is estimate that more than 21 million Americans don’t have access to the kind of documents this bill demands, which means nearly 10% of all voting-age Americans would face significant new barriers to the ballot.

• Pass S.4369, the Absentee and Mail Voter Protection Act. The bill overturns president’s executive order, and prohibits the US Postal Service from using funds to implement, administer, enforce, or carry it out. The bill also supports relevant state election procedures.

State action:

• Defend state election administrators against federal pressure in independently running their voting systems.

Litigation:

• Citizens groups and state attorney general should continue to sue to protect the integrity of state control over voting. Article 1 of the Constitution grants exclusive authority over election administration to Congress and the states.

Legislation: S.4369 - Absentee and Mail Voter Protection Act