The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected the Trump administration’s request to enforce new restrictions on mail-in voting ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. The ruling keeps a lower-court injunction blocking new U.S. Postal Service rules that would have imposed additional requirements on election ballots.
Under the proposed rules, states would have submitted voter information to a federal postal system, while ballot envelopes would require specific designs and unique barcodes. The administration argued that the measures would strengthen election security, while critics warned they could disrupt legitimate ballots and interfere with state election administration.
The Supreme Court said the government was unlikely to succeed on the merits and declined to lift the lower court’s injunction. Justice Brett Kavanaugh agreed with the outcome, saying implementing the rule before the 2026 elections would be unlawful because officials lacked enough time to make the changes properly.
Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented, arguing that the Postal Service should be allowed to enforce the new requirements.The decision means states can continue using their existing mail-in voting procedures for the November 2026 midterm elections.
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