Courts Block 5 Trump Election Moves as Midterms Near in 4 Months
Updated
Updated · The Washington Post · Jun 28
Courts Block 5 Trump Election Moves as Midterms Near in 4 Months
3 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Jun 28
Summary
Five court rulings last week blunted Trump’s bid to rewrite election rules, including a Monday order barring use of a DHS immigration database that judges said wrongly stripped some citizens from voter rolls.
Those setbacks hit as Trump presses for proof-of-citizenship registration, tighter mail-voting limits and fewer electronic voting systems, even though the Constitution leaves primary control of elections to states.
Republican senators have also resisted him, refusing to change filibuster rules to pass his voting bill after Trump canceled a bipartisan housing-bill signing and lobbied GOP senators behind closed doors.
Mid-September ballot deadlines for military and overseas voters leave election officials little time to retrain staff, redesign materials and adjust procedures, raising risks of voter confusion and postelection disputes.
A Supreme Court case on whether mail ballots must arrive by Election Day could still reshape rules in 14 states and D.C., while Democrats plan poll observers amid broader federal election investigations.
With new rules pending, how will states ensure overseas and military ballots are sent and counted on time this fall?
How might a Supreme Court ruling on mail-in ballot deadlines reshape voting access for millions across many states?
Can federal databases accurately verify voter citizenship without disenfranchising eligible Americans?
Federal Courts Block Trump’s 2026 Election Orders: States Retain Control Over Voting Rules Ahead of Midterms
Overview
President Trump, citing concerns about mail-in voting fraud, issued executive orders in 2026 to restrict mail voting and create a national voter database using immigration records. These actions aimed to centralize federal control over elections, with the U.S. Postal Service proposing new rules to limit ballot distribution. The orders were widely seen as unconstitutional attempts to override state authority, sparking immediate legal challenges from states and advocacy groups. Federal courts quickly struck down key parts of these orders, reinforcing states' power to manage elections and halting federal efforts to dictate voting procedures ahead of the 2026 midterms.