A federal court today declared unconstitutional key portions of President Trump’s executive order restricting mail voting. The executive order, issued in March 2026, unlawfully attempted to seize control of elections by ordering the Department of Homeland Security to compile a list of U.S. citizens and by directing the U.S. Postal Service to restrict mail voting. The decision came in a case brought by 23 states and the District of Columbia, led by California.
The court declared that Sections 2 and 3 of the executive order are legally void and barred federal agencies from using the executive order as a basis to interfere with how plaintiff states maintain their voter rolls or conduct mail voting. The court’s ruling also blocked the U.S. Postal Service from withholding mail ballots from voters not on an approved list in the plaintiff states.
The court is also considering a separate legal challenge to the executive order brought by a coalition of nonpartisan voting rights groups in the case LWVMA, et al., v. Trump, et al.
That suit was filed by the League of Women Voters of Massachusetts, the League of Women Voters, Association of Americans Resident Overseas (AARO), U.S. Vote Foundation, OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates (OCA), and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
They are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), ACLU of Massachusetts, Brennan Center for Justice, Legal Defense Fund (LDF), Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC (Advancing Justice – AAJC), and LatinoJustice PRLDEF.
Attorneys and plaintiffs in the voting rights group case issued the following joint statement:
“As this ruling makes clear, President Trump’s executive order from March 2026 attempting to seize control of elections is unconstitutional and dangerous.
“This ruling is a critical step in preserving free and fair elections. The court rightly recognized that the President and the executive branch lack both the legal authority and the capacity to compile a complete and accurate list of U.S. citizens or eligible voters in every state. The ruling also rightly recognizes that the U.S. Postal Service has no authority to limit the distribution of mail ballots.
“The court has yet to rule on our request to block the executive order’s provisions on mail voting on behalf of a nonpartisan coalition of voting rights groups. The same reasoning underpinning today’s decision should hold in our case. President Trump’s unlawful executive order violates the separation of powers, threatens the integrity of our elections, and must be enjoined from taking effect in the upcoming primary and midterm elections.”
