Federal Judge Expands Block on Trump's Mail-In Voting Order to All 50 States
A federal judge extended a court-ordered block on President Trump's mail-in voting executive order to every state on August 11, 2026, barring the U.S. Postal Service from carrying out the order's directives nationwide.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani of the District of Massachusetts issued the ruling, which broadens a June 2026 injunction that had covered only the 23 Democratic-led states and Washington, D.C., that sued over the order. (NPR)
Under Trump's executive order, the Postal Service is supposed to compile lists of eligible voters from states and deliver absentee ballots only to people on those lists. Talwani found that voting rights groups seeking to expand her June ruling are likely to prove in their lawsuit that the order oversteps a president's authority under the Constitution. She also found that the order is causing confusion among voters. (NPR)
Talwani, an Obama nominee, issued her initial injunction in June 2026, blocking Postal Service efforts to carry out the order in the coalition of 23 states plus Washington, D.C. The Washington State Attorney General co-led the lawsuit challenging the executive order on behalf of that coalition. (NPR; Washington State Attorney General)
President Trump has defended the order as a way to stop illegal voting by non-U.S. citizens, a problem that multiple studies have concluded is extremely uncommon. (NPR)
Voting rights groups filed a renewed request for a preliminary injunction on July 21, 2026, arguing that the order is unconstitutional and unlawful. (ACLU) The Brennan Center for Justice concluded in an April 2026 analysis that the Postal Service has no legal authority to determine voter eligibility and that implementing the executive order would block eligible American citizens from voting. (Brennan Center for Justice)
The litigation has produced conflicting outcomes across multiple federal courts. On July 25, 2026, a U.S. appeals court ruled that Trump cannot implement his mail-in voting executive order, which required proof of citizenship to register to vote and restricted the counting of mail-in ballots. (Reuters) A federal judge had previously ruled that some parts of the executive order restricting mail-in ballots are unconstitutional. (Reuters)
In a separate D.C. case, however, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals granted the Postal Service's request on July 17, 2026, to pause an order from U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan that had blocked the agency from carrying out Trump's directives. (Democracy Docket)
Trump asked the Supreme Court on August 3, 2026, to lift the order blocking his executive order restricting mail-in ballots. (Votebeat) As of August 11, the Court had not yet ruled on Talwani's earlier June injunction. (NPR)
The split rulings across lower and appellate courts, combined with the pending Supreme Court review, create an unsettled legal landscape. Talwani's nationwide expansion of her injunction means that, unless a higher court steps in, the Postal Service is barred from implementing the voter-list and absentee-ballot-delivery directives in all 50 states for the duration of the litigation. The Supreme Court's eventual response to Trump's request to lift the June injunction, and whether that response covers the August 11 expansion, will determine whether the directives can take effect before further appellate review concludes.
