A voter drops a ballot into an official ballot box inside City Hall during the primary election in San Francisco, California, USA, on Tuesday, June 2, 2026.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Monday to intervene in a legal battle over President Donald Trump’s executive order restricting mail-in voting, intensifying the fight 99 days before November’s midterm elections.
The emergency request comes after a federal appeals court in a 2-1 ruling Saturday left in place an order blocking key parts of Trump’s executive order issued in March that directed federal agencies to create voter eligibility lists and restrict the delivery of ballots not tied to those lists.
A coalition of 23 states argues that Mr. Trump does not have the authority to impose federal rules on elections administered by state and local officials.
The Justice Department argued that the challenge was premature because the agency had not finalized the policies needed to carry out President Trump’s orders. But the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said states already have to prepare for changes that could affect future elections.
The majority said the order imposes “an unprecedented level of federal involvement in how states administer elections” and risks chaos and voter disenfranchisement.
“We look forward to submitting a response to the government’s application to the U.S. Supreme Court by the deadline set by Judge Jackson,” Walter Garcia, a spokesman for California Attorney General Rob Bonta, said in a statement. California was one of the states that co-led the coalition.
The ruling applies only to the states that are the subject of the lawsuit. Another federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., recently reversed a broad injunction against the Postal Service’s rules, leaving open the possibility that the Postal Service could implement the restrictions elsewhere.
President Trump and his allies have promoted the change as a safeguard against illegal voting. Democrats and voting rights groups say the order could prevent voters from receiving or returning mail-in ballots.
The changes are part of an effort led by President Trump to make sweeping changes to the way elections are conducted in the United States in the lead-up to the Nov. 3 election. He is also calling on Congress to pass legislation that would require people to have voter ID to vote and proof of citizenship to register to vote.
The Constitution directs most election oversight to the states, not the federal government.
The White House and Justice Department did not respond to requests for comment.
