1st Circuit Blocks Trump Mail-Voting Order in 23 States, Keeping June Injunction Intact
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Jul 25
1st Circuit Blocks Trump Mail-Voting Order in 23 States, Keeping June Injunction Intact
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jul 25
Summary
A 2-1 ruling by the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to let the Trump administration enforce key parts of its March mail-in voting order in 23 Democratic-led states.
The panel said the states faced looming election deadlines and had already begun preparing for the order, rejecting the Justice Department's argument that the lawsuit was premature.
The decision leaves U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani's June injunction in place through the Nov. 3 federal elections while the broader appeal continues.
Trump's Executive Order 14399 directed DHS to compile citizenship lists for states, told USPS to set new mail-ballot standards and urged DOJ to prioritize probes of officials issuing ballots to ineligible voters.
The 23 states and Washington, D.C., argue the Constitution gives states primary control over federal election administration, and the administration has signaled it could seek emergency relief from the Supreme Court.
Will the Supreme Court intervene to redefine the boundary between state election laws and federal postal authority?
How will the clash over federal databases and postal rules reshape the way your ballot is delivered this November?
The 2026 Mail-In Voting Showdown: How Trump’s Executive Order Sparked a Constitutional Crisis Before the Midterms
Overview
In 2026, President Trump’s executive order to overhaul mail-in voting triggered a wave of legal and logistical chaos. The order directed federal agencies to create a centralized voter list and forced the USPS to block ballots not on preapproved lists, leading to a controversial USPS rule that imposed costly, complex requirements on local election offices and risked disenfranchising eligible voters. Courts quickly split: while a D.C. appeals court lifted a nationwide freeze, a Massachusetts judge blocked the order in 24 jurisdictions, citing constitutional limits on presidential power. The Supreme Court’s later ruling in Watson v. RNC further undermined the order, reinforcing that states—not the president—control mail-in ballot rules.