Overview
- The Supreme Court in a 6–3 unsigned order on Monday allowed the administration to resume planning to carry out President Trump’s March executive order restricting mail voting while lower courts continue to hear challenges.
- The order directs DHS to compile state-specific lists of citizens it deems eligible to vote and directs USPS to limit delivery of mailed ballots to people on those lists and to require tracking information on ballot envelopes.
- USPS published a final rule on August 21 describing how it would condition some ballot delivery practices on receiving state voter lists, but a separate nationwide district-court injunction still blocks USPS from putting those changes into effect for the November midterms.
- States, voting-rights groups, and election officials say the compressed timeline and technical demands—serialized barcodes, state data transfers and rapid list updates—risk errors, confusion, and possible disenfranchisement for mail-voters.
- The ruling was procedural not substantive, drew dissents from the three liberal justices who warned of election chaos, and leaves open renewed lawsuits and further court decisions that will determine whether any changes reach voters before the midterms.