From WIRED · David Gilbert · · 1m 40s
Supreme Court blocks Trump's mail-in ballot rules
A 7-2 ruling keeps the Postal Service out of deciding who gets a mail-in ballot this November.
In brief
A 7-2 ruling keeps the Postal Service out of deciding who gets a mail-in ballot this November. The court did not settle whether the rule is legal, only that it is too late to run it in 2026. Originally reported by WIRED.
The court says no
The Supreme Court rejected the Trump administration's push to restrict mail-in voting weeks before the midterms. The vote was 7-2, with Alito and Thomas dissenting.
What the rule would have done
States would have sent the Postal Service lists of eligible voters, and USPS would confirm ballots went only to people on those lists. Sorting voter rolls is not a job the mail service normally does.
Too late to pull off
Kavanaugh, joined by Jackson, wrote that the rule might fall within postal authority but could not be applied this year. Mail voting has already started in some states.
“applying the rule in the 2026 elections would be arbitrary and capricious”
A loss Trump keeps taking
Trump has attacked mail-in voting for years, claiming fraud without evidence. This is the latest court defeat in a broader effort to chip away at confidence in US elections.
How the fight got here
A March executive order told states to hand voter lists to USPS, which could refuse ballots that were off-list or broke new barcode and envelope rules. Courts blocked most of it, then the Supreme Court let it proceed last month on standing grounds.
The whistleblower warning
A USPS insider said the portal built for the new rules was rushed and shaky. Senator Blumenthal passed the claim to the postmaster general, arguing the agency simply cannot run this system safely.
“USPS lacks the technical or operational capability needed to effectively implement the [executive order's] provisions”
The short version
The court did not settle whether the rule is legal, only that it is too late to run it in 2026.
