Supreme Court says Trump cannot enforce new mail-in ballot regulation, tell me about this news in (https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/supreme-court-says-trump-cannot-enforce-new-mail-in-ballot-regulation/ar-AA2cdLig?ocid=BingNewsVerp)
15-09-2026
The U.S. Supreme Court rejected an emergency bid by the Trump administration to enforce new federal regulations on mail-in ballots ahead of the upcoming midterm elections.Key Details of the Ruling
- Preserving Existing State Rules: The court’s order leaves in place lower court injunctions, allowing states to continue printing, mailing, and collecting absentee and mail-in ballots under their established rules rather than overhauling their systems weeks before voting concludes.
- The Administration’s Proposed Policy: The challenged executive measures directed the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to impose standardized design requirements on mail-in ballot envelopes and mandated that state election officials submit voter eligibility data to an online federal portal. Under the proposal, the Postal Service could decline to deliver election mail from states that failed to comply.
- The Legal Challenge and Concerns: Democratic state officials and voting rights organizations challenged the rules in federal court, arguing that the executive branch lacks constitutional authority to unilaterally alter election procedures on the eve of a vote. Critics and internal whistleblower reports also warned that technical glitches, strict barcode requirements, and an unprepared verification portal risked delaying or discarding millions of legitimate ballots.
- The Justices’ Breakdown:
- The majority issued a brief order without extensive written reasoning, which is customary on the court’s emergency docket.
- Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented, contending that the Postal Service holds broad statutory power to regulate how mail is handled and delivered.
- Justice Brett Kavanaugh concurred with blocking the rules for the upcoming midterms citing the timing, while noting he might be open to the administration’s legal arguments in future proceedings.