From BBC News · · 1m 30s
Supreme Court blocks Trump's mail ballot rules
The justices froze new postal ballot requirements weeks before the midterms, but left the door open for Trump later.
In brief
The justices froze new postal ballot requirements weeks before the midterms, but left the door open for Trump later. The order is blocked for November only, on timing grounds, not because the court settled whether the Postal Service had the power to issue it. Originally reported by BBC News.
Court says not this year
The Supreme Court rejected Trump's plan to restrict mail-in voting before November's midterms, upholding a federal judge's order that froze new Postal Service ballot rules.
A win with an asterisk
Justice Brett Kavanaugh sided with the ruling but signalled he could back Trump once the case is fully argued. This is a pause, not a verdict.
“applying the rule in the 2026 elections would be arbitrary and capricious”
What the order demanded
Trump's March executive order told USPS to deliver ballots only to people on citizen lists, add unique barcodes to ballot envelopes, and make officials feed voter data to an online portal.
Two justices dissented
Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas called the challenge a long shot that would eventually fail, arguing the Postal Service has wide power over the mail.
“The Postal Service has broad authority to regulate the mail”
States pushed back hard
Twenty-three states and Washington DC sued, saying the order trampled their constitutional right to run elections. The postal workers' union said clerks could not be trained in time.
The stakes in November
About 30% of voters, mostly Democrats, voted by post two years ago, and some states have already started mailing ballots for the races that decide control of Congress.
The bottom line
The order is blocked for November only, on timing grounds, not because the court settled whether the Postal Service had the power to issue it.
