Overview:
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to pause a lower-court order blocking new federal requirements for mail-in ballots ahead of the November midterm elections. The ruling leaves in place an injunction preventing the U.S. Postal Service from implementing the administration’s new ballot-mail requirements.
Native Vote 2026
With 50 days remaining before the midterm elections, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected the Trump administration’s effort to restrict mail voting in the fall elections.
For Indian Country, mail-in voting provides an important means of participating in elections and gives sovereign tribal nations and their citizens an opportunity to help shape the direction of federal and state policies.
The U.S. Supreme Court responded to an emergency application made by the Trump administration arguing that the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has the authority to regulate what is sent through the mail, including by establishing new requirements for election ballots.
Under Trump’s plan, the USPS would have been required to implement new procedures for election ballots based on voter information and citizenship lists developed by the federal government. The executive order directed the Department of Homeland Security to compile lists of U.S. citizens residing in each state and directed the USPS to require that mail-in or absentee ballots be associated with voters whose names appeared on the appropriate lists.
Monday’s Supreme Court decision came in an unsigned, one-paragraph order that said the government was unlikely to succeed in its effort to implement the rule.
“The government is unlikely to succeed on the merits of its challenge to the District Court’s preliminary injunction,” the order said. “And the equitable factors applicable for obtaining emergency relief from this Court do not favor a stay.”
The Supreme Court’s order left in place an injunction from Judge Indira Talwani of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, which blocked the USPS from implementing the new rule ahead of the 2026 elections.
“This unconstitutional attack on mail voting should never have happened, but today’s ruling is a major victory in our fight to defend our right to vote and protect state elections from political interference,” U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, which has jurisdiction over federal elections, said in a statement.
