Federal judge blocks Trump order limiting mail ballots and voter list

A federal judge in Boston blocked major parts of Donald Trump’s executive order limiting who can receive a mail ballot and tying ballot delivery to a federally approved citizenship list. U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani said the executive branch and the U.S. Postal Service lacked authority to impose the restrictions and that the order violated the Constitution. The ruling applies to the 2026 midterm election cycle.

The executive order, signed on March 31, 2026, would have directed the Postal Service to deliver mail ballots only to people on a federal citizenship list. States that rely on vote-by-mail warned the change could disrupt how ballots are processed, including in Washington and Oregon, where elections are conducted almost entirely by mail and ballots postmarked by Election Day are counted even if they arrive later.

Nearly two dozen states joined voting-rights and advocacy groups in the lawsuit. They argued the Constitution gives states and Congress, not the president, authority over election rules and said the order would interfere with state control over election administration and could disenfranchise voters in mail-voting states.

Talwani’s decision follows a narrower ruling from U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols in Washington, D.C., who on May 28, 2026, declined to halt the order because the Postal Service had not yet issued a final rule and the federal voter lists had not yet been created.

Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly blocked Trump’s proof-of-citizenship requirement for the federal voter registration form on April 24, 2025, then permanently blocked additional citizenship-related provisions on February 2, 2026, including agency screening before voter-registration forms are distributed and a Defense Department proof-of-citizenship requirement for military voters and overseas families. The White House said only citizens should vote.