U.S. Supreme Court rejects mail-in voting order

(The Center Square) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected for now the Trump administration's order to place restrictions on the U.S. Postal Service's processing of mail-in voting. 

Justices on the high court rejected an executive order from President Donald Trump that required the USPS to verify individuals are eligible to vote before sending mail-in ballots. States would also be required to have a uniform barcode on mail-in ballot envelopes to verify eligibility to vote in the election. 

A group of 23 states and the District of Columbia filed the lawsuit against the Trump administration. Lawyers for the states argued the order was unconstitional and would create chaos ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. 

"In some States, unrebutted evidence establishes that compliance with USPS’ rule would be impossible ahead of the midterms, meaning that millions of voters would be unable to vote by mail and some would not be able to vote at all," lawyers for the states wrote in a brief to the high court. 

Lawyers for the Trump administration said the order changed little about the process for mail-in voting and would be able to be implemented across the country. 

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"It imposes only modest requirements on the use of the federal postal system—it does not regulate state administration of elections," lawyers for the Trump administration wrote. 

Alabama, North Carolina and Wisconsin have already sent out some mail-in ballots to voters that did not comply wtih the order. Across the country, states are required to send out absentee ballots for military and overseas voters by Saturday.

Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented to the high court's majority decision.

The high court's decision is one of several looming legal challenges over orders the Trump adminsitration has pursued to change voting in the midterm elections.