Supreme Court hands preliminary win to Trump on mail-in ballots executive order

BREAKING NEWSAug. 24, 2026, 9:02 PM UTCSupreme CourtSupreme CourtSupreme Court hands preliminary win to Trump on mail-in ballots executive orderThe Trump administration wants to exert greater control over mail-in ballots ahead of the 2026 midterms despite the primary role states play in overseeing elections.Listen to this article with a free profile00:0000:00Vote by Mail ballots are inspected at the Los Angeles County Ballot Processing Center on Nov. 4, 2025 in City of Industry, Calif.Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images fileShareAdd to GoogleBy Lawrence HurleyWASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday handed an initial win to the Trump administration in its effort to implement an executive order aimed at limiting who can receive mail-in ballots ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.At issue are provisions that seek to create a federal list of eligible voters and order the U.S. Postal Service to deliver ballots only to eligible voters.The justices, divided 6-3, granted an emergency request filed by the government that blocks a Massachusetts-based judge’s ruling from June that prevented key aspects of the executive order from being put into effect this year in California and 22 other states that had challenged it.The court also granted a similar application filed by Alabama and 11 other states.U.S. Postal Service headquarters in Washington, D.C. Erin Scott / Bloomberg via Getty Images fileParts of the same executive order are currently blocked nationwide because of a later ruling issued by the same judge in a different case, but the Supreme Court decision is likely to apply to that ruling too.That means that the administration may, at least in the short term, be able to implement the executive order.President Donald Trump has frequently railed against the widespread use of mail-in ballots as part of his broader complaints, offered without evidence, that the election system is plagued with fraud.His efforts to encourage Congress to pass his SAVE America Act l...