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What happens next with mail voting after SCOTUS ruling
Votebeat senior reporter Dion Nissenbaum joins LiveNOW's Anna Marsick to discuss Trump's efforts to limit mail voting and what it means ahead of the midterm elections.
An appeals court has upheld a lower court ruling that blocks President Donald Trump’s executive order limiting mail voting.
The decision, handed down Thursday by a three-judge panel, stops the U.S. Postal Service from implementing Trump’s directive while the Supreme Court weighs the same case. Meanwhile, some states have already started sending out mail ballots for November’s midterm elections.
What does Trump’s executive order on mail voting do?
Big picture view:
Per Trump’s order, the Postal Service has said it would not deliver ballots from states that did not pre-clear their envelope design with the federal government and submit a list of voters to an online portal, which has yet to be activated.
RELATED: Judge again blocks Trump administration's attempt to restrict mail-in ballots
The other side:
Election officials warn that it’s impossible to comply with those terms, especially with the first mail ballots already being sent out in Alabama, North Carolina and Wisconsin.
FILE: US President Donald Trump signs an executive order cracking down on mail-in voting ahead of midterm elections in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on March 31, 2026. His order has been blocked by lower courts while the Supre …
What's next:
The panel's decision comes even as the Supreme Court is already considering the same case, which is part of a frenzied legal rush as states are beginning to send out mail ballots for this fall’s midterm elections. Democrats and civil rights groups in a separate lawsuit in Washington, D.C., also are trying to halt the executive order.
RELATED: Trump administration again asks Supreme Court to allow mail-ballot restrictions
Dig deeper:
The legal battle could have major ramifications for this year’s elections, when control of Congress is at stake. Nearly one-third of voters in the U.S. cast mail ballots and election officials contend there isn’t enough time to revise their systems to comply with the new Postal Service directives.
Why does Trump want to limit mail voting?
The backstory:
Trump has long sought to limit mail voting, even though he himself often uses that method to cast his own ballot. He has falsely blamed mail balloting for his 2020 election loss, spreading baseless claims of fraud, but has so far been unable to change the longstanding voting procedure.
An initial executive order Trump issued last year to change election rules, including a requirement for people to show documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote, was halted by federal judges. They ruled that the Constitution gives states and, in some cases, Congress the power to set voting procedures, not the president.
The Source: This report includes information from The Associated Press and previous FOX Local reporting.