US Supreme Court urged to permit Trump administration's mail‑in ballot restrictions

The Trump administration filed a request with the U.S. Supreme Court asking the justices to lift an injunction that blocks an executive order aiming to tighten mail‑in voting rules ahead of the November midterm elections. The order, issued in March, would require U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Social Security Administration to compile state‑by‑state lists of eligible voters and direct the Postal Service to deliver ballots only to people on those lists, with secure envelopes and barcodes. It also threatens to withhold federal funding from states and localities that do not comply.

A district judge in Massachusetts had barred enforcement of the order in 23 states and the District of Columbia, and a divided panel of the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals left the ruling in place. The Justice Department argued that the order is merely “general policy guidance” and asked the Supreme Court to freeze the lower‑court decision while the litigation proceeds, with a response due by Aug. 3. The filing comes amid Trump’s broader effort to curtail mail‑in voting, a strategy tied to his claims of election fraud and to the partisan stakes of the upcoming midterms.