Federal Judge Blocks USPS Mail-Ballot Limits in 5 Lawsuits Over Trump Order
Updated
Updated · NPR · Jun 25
Federal Judge Blocks USPS Mail-Ballot Limits in 5 Lawsuits Over Trump Order
3 articles · Updated · NPR · Jun 25
Summary
A federal judge in Boston blocked the Postal Service from enforcing proposed mail-in voting restrictions tied to President Trump's executive order, preventing any immediate effect on this year's primaries.
The proposal would have let USPS use state election data to build approved absentee-voter lists and deny ballot mailings to states that refused to share those records.
Democrats, nearly two dozen states and voting-rights groups argue the Constitution gives election-rule authority to states and Congress, not the president, and that USPS lacks power to police vote-by-mail eligibility.
David Steiner, the postmaster general, told senators ballots would not be mailed under the proposal if states withheld absentee lists, while Trump says the order targets noncitizen voting that reviews show is exceedingly rare.
What precedent does this ruling set for federal authority over state-run election mail processes?
How would the proposed mail system protect eligible voters from being flagged by database errors?
Federal Judge Blocks Trump’s 2026 Mail-In Voting Restrictions: Key Executive Order Halted Ahead of Midterms
Overview
In March 2026, President Donald Trump issued an executive order to prevent noncitizen voting by giving the U.S. Postal Service power to decide who could vote by mail and requiring the Department of Homeland Security to create federal voter lists. Critics argued this was an illegal attempt to centralize election control, especially since the federal data used was unreliable. On June 25, 2026, a federal judge blocked key parts of the order, ruling that it threatened and intimidated local election officials and overstepped presidential authority, ensuring states kept control over mail-in voting for the 2026 midterms.