The Supreme Court just handed Donald Trump a major win on mail-in voting, and Democratic governors lost it.
The justices on Monday lifted a lower-court order that had blocked Trump’s administration from moving forward with key parts of his executive order on mail-in voting. The ruling does not settle whether the order is constitutional. But it clears one major barrier, allowing federal agencies to begin preparing to carry it out while the legal fight continues.
The executive order, signed March 31, directs the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration to compile lists of confirmed U.S. citizens who will be at least 18 by the next federal election. It also directs the U.S. Postal Service to begin rulemaking that would require secure ballot envelopes with unique barcodes and would limit or halt ballot delivery to voters not appearing on state-approved participation lists. The Justice Department was further directed to prioritize investigations and potential prosecutions involving ballots cast by people deemed ineligible.
Twenty-three Democratic-led states and the District of Columbia sued to stop the administration. As originally reported, the Court’s conservative majority concluded the states had filed their challenge before any concrete injury had actually occurred, making the lawsuit premature. The three liberal justices dissented. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote that the ruling “lets another shoe drop in the Kafkaesque nightmare that our precedents have been steadily creating.”
The majority was careful to narrow its ruling. “The Court’s disposition of this application does not mean that any measure taken by the Government to implement the Order will necessarily be lawful,” the justices wrote. “On that score, time will tell.” A separate injunction affecting the Postal Service remains in place, keeping further litigation active.
Democratic governors did not wait long to respond. New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill called it a “terrible decision” and accused Trump of overstepping into territory that belongs exclusively to the states. States run elections, not Donald Trump,” she wrote, vowing to protect New Jerseyans’ right to vote by mail and in person.
California Governor Gavin Newsom went all caps. “WOW. The Supreme Court just let the Trump Admin move ahead (for now) with its plan to disenfranchise voters across the country,” he wrote. He pledged that California would return to court, calling the rules “Orwellian.” California’s attorney general led the multistate legal challenge.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro promised his state would “see the Trump Administration in court,” adding that Pennsylvania would continue administering elections under its existing rules while the litigation proceeds.
Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont called the decision “disappointing” but acknowledged what it actually said, noting the Court had not ruled on whether carrying out the order would ultimately be lawful. He declared his state would not hand over control of its elections to the Trump administration.
The legal battles will continue as election officials across the country prepare for November.