Trump again appeals to Supreme Court on mail voting restrictions as midterms loom
PBS News Hour – Politics — 2026-09-03 19:25:00 — www.pbs.org
Trump Administration Pushes Supreme Court to Allow Controversial Mail Ballot Rule Amid System Uncertainty
The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to overturn a federal judge’s order blocking a new rule that would regulate mail ballots, even as officials could not confirm whether the computer system central to the plan was operational. The administration’s appeal came just before North Carolina was set to send out mail ballots, marking the start of a nationwide wave of mail voting ahead of the midterm elections.
Trump’s Executive Order and Legal Challenges
Under President Donald Trump’s executive order, the U.S. Postal Service could refuse to deliver ballots from states that do not use a uniform envelope style and do not submit lists of eligible voters to an online portal. This portal, according to court testimony, was still inactive as of Thursday, raising questions about the feasibility of implementing the rule in time for the election.
During a hearing in Boston, U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani pressed the Department of Justice on whether the Postal Service could actually carry out Trump’s plan. The judge noted a lack of evidence that the system was ready, describing the situation as an “experiment” with the upcoming election.
Trump’s Record on Mail Voting
President Trump has long opposed mail voting and has falsely blamed it for his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden, despite the fact that he himself often votes by mail. The administration maintains that the changes to mail ballot procedures are minor and legal, arguing that states cannot use federal mail services for elections while ignoring Postal Service regulations.
Election Officials Warn of Chaos
Election officials across the country have warned that complying with the new directives would require a complete overhaul of their operations, including redesigning envelopes and uploading voter lists to the still-inactive portal. Some ballots have already been sent out in Wisconsin, and North Carolina is set to begin mailing ballots to all requesting voters.
A whistleblower report released this week cautioned that the new requirements could result in millions of mail ballots never being sent. The rule mandates that all ballots be physically brought to post offices before mailing, and if a single barcode error is detected, entire batches—potentially tens of thousands of legitimate ballots—could be discarded.
Conclusion
The Trump administration’s push to enforce new mail ballot rules, despite unresolved technical and legal questions, has sparked a flurry of litigation and concern among election officials. Trump’s ongoing opposition to mail voting, including his repeated false claims about its integrity, continues to shape the debate as the courts weigh whether the administration’s last-minute changes can proceed ahead of the midterm elections.