Trump Appeals Election Order Ruling as 24 Jurisdictions and 1 Nationwide Ban Block Ballot Plan
Updated
Updated · AlterNet · Jul 3
Trump Appeals Election Order Ruling as 24 Jurisdictions and 1 Nationwide Ban Block Ballot Plan
3 articles · Updated · AlterNet · Jul 3
Summary
Monday is the deadline the Trump administration gave Judge Indira Talwani to lift her order, saying it is running out of time to impose new voting restrictions before November.
Talwani last week barred key parts of Trump’s March election order in the 23 plaintiff states and Washington, D.C., finding the president lacked authority to regulate state elections through a national citizenship list and USPS ballot-screening system.
USPS told the court it cannot operationally run two sets of ballot-mail rules—one for the plaintiff jurisdictions and another for the rest of the country—undercutting the administration’s plan even if its appeal succeeds.
A separate ruling from Judge Emmet Sullivan in Washington already blocks the mail-ballot restrictions nationwide, holding that limiting ballots to preapproved voters would violate a 2021 Postal Service agreement with the NAACP.
The fast-track appeal to the First Circuit suggests the administration is trying to push the dispute toward the U.S. Supreme Court before election preparations harden.
Could new postal rules transform the USPS from a mail carrier into an election gatekeeper?
With federal rules blocked, how will states manage mail-in ballot security for upcoming elections?
What are the privacy risks of a national database for verifying every mail-in ballot?
Federal Courts Block Trump’s 2026 Mail-In Voting Crackdown: Landmark Rulings Protect State Authority and Voter Access
Overview
In March 2026, President Donald Trump issued an executive order to restrict mail-in voting, directing the Department of Homeland Security to compile state-by-state voter eligibility lists and enlisting the U.S. Postal Service to verify voters. While a federal judge initially allowed the order to proceed, the legal landscape shifted dramatically in June 2026 when federal courts, led by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Massachusetts, declared the order unlawful, null, and void. These rulings blocked key components of Trump’s plan, reaffirmed states’ authority over elections, and prevented federal agencies from interfering with state-run mail-in voting processes.