Supreme Court rules to allow parts of President Trump’s changes to mail-in voting
In a 6-3 decision Monday, the Supreme Court ruled to lift a major procedural block on President Trump’s executive order on mail-in voting, setting the stage for a larger constitutional battle over election laws.
WASHINGTON —
In a 6-3 decision this week, the Supreme Court ruled to lift a major procedural roadblock on President Donald Trump’s executive order calling for major changes to mail-in voting, including ballots handled by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS).
The ruling could disrupt how roughly one-third of U.S. voters cast their ballots in 2024, according to the Get the Facts Team.
The president’s order requires states to redesign ballot envelopes just days before the first midterm ballots are set to be mailed.
“That’s going to be hard to do for this November because envelopes have already been bought,” Rick Hasen, a professor at UCLA Law School, said. “You can’t just go to Staples and get a million, 5 million or 10 million envelopes that are marked in the right way.”
And, despite Monday’s ruling, the USPS can’t act quite yet. A separate lawsuit, filed by groups including the ACLU, challenges another part of the executive order that requires the Postal Service to deliver ballots only to states that verify lists of eligible voters.
“As of now, nothing’s changed,” Hasen said. “It’s possible something could change in a few weeks, but most people who get a ballot in the mail are likely to still get that ballot in the mail.”
Still, Hasen says the Supreme Court’s decision sets the stage for a larger constitutional battle over federalism, forcing the Supreme Court to decide whether the president’s executive order can legally overhaul state-run elections.
The ruling drew immediate pushback from several secretaries of state.
“Yesterday’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling does not change Pennsylvania law. Voters should have confidence that their counties will continue to follow existing processes to ensure that eligible Pennsylvania voters who cast their ballot by mail can still do so safely and securely,” a statement from Pennsylvania’s Department of State read.
“I am disappointed by the Supreme Court’s ruling yesterday, but it does not change the status quo: USPS cannot move forward with its rule-making process until all legal challenges are resolved, and plenty remain,” a statement from Vermont Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas read.
The popularity of mail-in voting has generally grown over the years, according to data from the Get the Facts Team. Early in-person and voting by mail was allowed in 21 states in 2000. By 2026, that number rose to 37. Mail-in voting also saw a significant spike in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Watch more on the Supreme Court’s decision on mail-in voting: