Supreme Court asked to review voting restrictions
By: Maureen Groppe
USA Today
WASHINGTON - The Trump administration on July 27 [2026] asked the Supreme Court to let President Donald Trump tighten rules nationwide for mail-in ballots before this fall's [2026] midterm elections as he seeks to exert more federal control over voting.
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Trump filed the emergency appeal after lower courts blocked the administration from creating a federal list of eligible voters and limiting delivery of mail ballots only to people on hat list in nearly half the states.
..... In June, federal judge in Boston said key parts of an executive order Trump signed in March [2026] were unconstitutional, ruling that those components can't be enforced this year in the 23 states that are challenging the order.
..... In July, [2026] an appeals court rejected the administration's argument that the states' lawsuit was premature because executive order has not been fully implemented.
..... The Boston-based U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals said the changes are already straining states and "would sow confusion and threaten disenfranchisement of many eligible voters" if allowed to go into effect for the November [2026] election.
..... But the Justice Department told the Supreme Court that pausing Trump's executive order is "especially indefensible because the agencies are still deliberating over how (if at all) to implement the Order."
..... The lower court "preemptively decided that whatever the agencies may choose to do will necessarily be unlawful," the government's lawyers wrote.
..... The Supreme Court asked the state challenging the order to respond to the administration's appeal by August 3. [2026]
..... Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, said Trump's executive order is "nothing other than voter suppression by another name." He said the court "must reject this latest, brazen att4mepted power grab."
..... The fight over rules for absentee ballots is a key battleground in the 2026 midterms that will determine which party controls Congress. Democrats can take control by flipping a handful of seats in the House and Senate.
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Voting by mail has decreased since its peak during the COVID-19 pandemic.
..... But nearly 30% of voters still cast a ballot that way in the 2024 elections.
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Democrats ear more likely than Republicans to vote by mail.
..... Trump, who has voted by mail himself, contends absentee ballots are often fraudulent. He directed the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to compile lists of confirmed U.S. citizens eligible to vote for states to consult.
..... The U.S. Postal Service was ordered to only deliver ballots to voters on each state's approved mail-in ballot list.
..... The Justice Department must prioritize investigating and prosecuting state and local election officials who give federal ballots to anyone deemed ineligible to vote.
..... The appeals court said Trump's executive order "direct unprecedented levels of involvement by federal officials in how states administer elections."
..... Under the Constitution, states are assigned the role of administering federal elections. But Trump as called for greater federal control since losing his 2020 reelection bid. He's continued to push the false claim that he lost that election because of widespread voter fraud.