A federal judge on Tuesday blocked a key part of President Donald Trump’s effort to tighten mail-in voting rules ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, preventing the U.S. Postal Service from implementing new nationwide requirements for mail ballots.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani issued a preliminary injunction barring the Postal Service from enforcing the mail-voting provisions of Trump’s executive order for the November elections or any earlier federal election.
The ruling expands an earlier injunction from Talwani that applied only to the 23 states and Washington, D.C., that sued over the order. The new ruling applies nationwide.
Trump’s executive order directed federal agencies to work with states to create lists of eligible voters and instructed the Postal Service to use those lists when determining whether to deliver mail-in and absentee ballots.
Under the order, states could submit lists of voters they intended to provide mail ballots to, while the Postal Service would establish state-specific participation lists and transmit ballots only for voters enrolled through the new system. The order also called for official election-mail markings, unique barcodes, and other requirements for ballot envelopes.
Talwani ruled that the president likely lacks the constitutional authority to impose the requirements, siding with voting-rights groups that argued election regulation rests with states and Congress rather than the executive branch.
“The court finds that enfranchisement heavily outweighs the executive’s attempt to unconstitutionally insert itself into the domain of election regulation,” Talwani wrote.
She also warned that allowing the administration to implement the changes could create “increasing chaos and an erosion of trust in our democracy,” particularly with the midterm elections rapidly approaching.
“That it is now less than 90 days before the November 3, 2026 midterm elections underscores the critical need for an injunction to prevent Defendants from changing election rules on the eve of the election,” she wrote.
The Trump administration has argued that the executive order is intended to prevent noncitizens from voting and strengthen election security. Noncitizen voting in federal elections is already illegal, but the administration argues additional safeguards are necessary to verify voter eligibility.
The order came after Trump-backed legislation imposing additional federal voting requirements —the SAVE America Act— stalled in Congress.
State election officials and voting-rights groups challenged Trump’s executive action, arguing that the Constitution gives states and Congress, rather than the president, authority over election procedures.
Talwani, an Obama-appointed judge, agreed that the challengers were likely to prevail, concluding that the administration could not use the Postal Service to carry out the mail-voting provisions.
The Trump administration has already asked the Supreme Court to intervene in the earlier litigation over the executive order, seeking to revive provisions blocked by lower courts before the November 3 midterms.
The White House vowed Tuesday to continue fighting for Trump’s election agenda following Talwani’s latest ruling.
“The entire Trump Administration will continue lawfully enacting the agenda President Trump was elected to enact – which includes the safety and security of American elections,” White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis said in a statement. “This campaign pledge from the President is why millions of Americans sent him back to the White House.”
The ruling comes with less than three months remaining before Election Day, leaving the administration and states with limited time to resolve the legal dispute before voting begins.
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