US Supreme Court Blocks Trump’s Mail-In Voting Restrictions Ahead of Midterm Elections

The US Supreme Court has rejected President Donald Trump’s attempt to revive new restrictions on mail-in voting, delivering a setback to his administration’s efforts to tighten election rules ahead of the November midterm elections.

In an unsigned order issued Monday, the conservative-majority court declined to overturn an injunction imposed by US District Judge Indira Talwani, who had blocked a new Postal Service policy targeting mail-in ballots. The Supreme Court said the Trump administration was unlikely to succeed on the merits of its challenge.

The dispute stems from an executive order Trump signed in March seeking to impose tighter controls on voting by mail. Following the order, the US Postal Service adopted rules requiring states to provide the agency with lists of people receiving mail ballots and to use ballot envelopes that had been approved under the new standards.

Under the policy, the Postal Service could reject ballots that failed to meet the requirements or were not connected to voters appearing on the submitted registration lists.

Judge Talwani blocked the rules after finding that they likely violated the US Constitution and could be difficult or impossible to implement so close to the midterm elections. The decision prompted the Trump administration to seek emergency intervention from the Supreme Court, arguing that the restrictions were necessary to protect the postal system from being used for voter fraud.

The latest ruling follows a temporary decision by the Supreme Court in August that allowed Trump’s executive order to move forward on procedural grounds. At the time, however, the justices did not decide whether the policy itself was legally valid.

Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented from Monday’s decision. Alito argued that some of the plaintiffs did not have legal standing to bring the case and described the remaining challenge as one the court had previously characterized as a “Hail Mary pass.”

The ruling represents another legal obstacle for the Trump administration as both parties prepare for a closely watched election season. Mail-in voting remains an important part of the US electoral system, particularly for voters who cannot or prefer not to cast ballots in person.