Supreme Court upholds Trump's order to overhaul mail-in ballots
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Voting rights activists protest outside the Supreme Court on October 15, 2025. Photo: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images.
President Trump can implement an executive order restricting mail-in ballots just months before the midterm elections, the Supreme Court said Monday.
Why it matters: The decision will upend midterm elections, putting election officials and administrators on a tight deadline to comply with the rule changes and aggravate privacy concerns for voters.
- Trump has opposed mail-in voting for years, claiming without evidence that it contributes to fraud in elections.
- One in three Americans voted by mail in the 2024 election, and Trump himself voted by mail in Florida's 2026 special election.
Driving the news: The Supreme Court said that states lack standing to challenge the executive order because it was an "internal directive" that didn't harm the states that sued.
- "This internal directive does not regulate the States' voter registration processes," the court's order reads. "Nor does it impinge on the States' authority 'to create and enforce a legal code' for elections."
- The decision overturns a federal appeals court ruling that found the order could impose "unprecedented levels of involvement by federal officials in how states administer elections" and could confuse and disenfranchise voters.
- "The Court's disposition of this application does not mean that any measure taken by the Government to implement the Order will necessarily be lawful, the court noted. "On that score, time will tell."
- The court's three liberal justices — Ketanji Brown Jackson, Sonya Sotomayor and Elena Kagan — dissented.
Catch up quick: Trump's executive order, issued in March of this year, directed the Department of Homeland Security to compile a list of citizens eligible to vote and called for the U.S. Postal Service to accept ballots only from voters on those lists.
- Eligible voter rolls constantly change as people move, die, turn 18 or change their names. A national list would quickly become outdated, according to voting rights groups.
- A coalition of Democratic state attorneys general challenged the order.
Between the lines: Under the Constitution, states — not the president — administer elections.
- Congress does have the authority to pass legislation that alters election rules.
- Government reports and voting rights groups have consistently found voter fraud is rare and, when it occurs, is not widespread enough to affect election outcomes.
What we're watching: Trump has repeatedly pressured Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, which would impose stricter voting rules.
- The bill would not end mail-in voting and faces an uphill climb in Congress. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has repeatedly said it lacks the support to pass.
Editor's note: This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
Go deeper: Thune's shield against Trump
