The Trump administration on Monday asked the Supreme Court to allow it to fully implement an executive order signed by President Trump to ensure “citizenship verification and integrity in federal elections.”
The administration filed the emergency application after a federal appeals court on Saturday blocked parts of the order.
“The Federal Government has an unavoidable duty under Article II of the Constitution of the United States to enforce Federal law, which includes preventing violations of Federal criminal law and maintaining public confidence in election outcomes. To enhance election integrity via the United States Mail, additional measures are necessary,” the order read.
“Secure ballot envelope identifiers provide a reliable, auditable mechanism to enforce Federal law without unduly burdening or infringing on the rights of eligible voters. Unique ballot envelope identifiers, such as bar codes, enable confirmation that only citizens receive and cast ballots, reducing the risk of fraud and protecting the integrity of Federal elections,” it continued.
The order instructs the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to propose rules for mail-in ballots and directs the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to compile “state citizenship lists.”
Among other things, the order would propose “provisions specifying that the USPS shall not transmit mail-in or absentee ballots from any individual unless those individuals have been enrolled on a State-specific list.”
In June, the USPS proposed rules seeking to comply with the order.
The plan requires states to provide voter eligibility lists and unique bar codes to ensure ballots are sent only to approved recipients.
SCOTUSblog explained further:
Under the order, the rules issued by the USPS must provide that the Postal Service can only send mail-in ballots to voters whose names appear on the state citizenship lists.
A group of 23 states and the District of Columbia, led by California, went to federal court in Massachusetts to challenge the implementation of the order. They argued that the order conflicts with provisions in the Constitution that give states the power to determine voter eligibility and to set the “Times, Places, and Manner” of holding congressional elections.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani agreed and on June 25 issued an order that prohibited the federal government from implementing the mail-in ballot and state citizenship list provisions for the Nov. 3, 2026, elections in the states that had filed the lawsuit.
In an order issued on Saturday, a divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit turned down the government’s request to intervene. If the order were “to take effect for the elections taking place” in the fall, the majority wrote, “it would sow confusion and threaten disenfranchisement of many eligible voters.”
The Trump administration then came to the Supreme Court on Monday, asking the justices to step in. Sauer argued that the courts should not yet consider the states’ lawsuit because the agencies haven’t yet decided how they will implement the order. But even if it were appropriate for courts to consider their request, Sauer continued, Talwani’s ruling should be put on hold to avoid “serious irreparable harm.” “Even if the agencies’ implementation plans end up being entirely lawful,” Sauer wrote, “there is not enough time to obtain ordinary appellate relief from the injunction in order to carry them out before the November election, especially given that any such plans will need to be implemented well before November given the timing of election procedures concerning voter-roll verification and mail voting.”
The Supreme Court asked the challengers to respond to the administration's emergency application by August 3.
"We will not hesitate to defend New York’s election laws. We have beaten attempts to stop mail-in voting before, and we will do it again," New York Attorney General Letitia James commented.
We will not hesitate to defend New York’s election laws.
We have beaten attempts to stop mail-in voting before, and we will do it again.https://t.co/YENbdYbZ5Y
— NY AG James (@NewYorkStateAG) July 28, 2026
More from The New York Times:
The Supreme Court has shown skepticism of Mr. Trump’s efforts to restrict mail-in voting. In late June, the justices upheld a Mississippi law that allows mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted if they are received up to five business days later, a rejection of the Trump administration’s efforts to overturn the statute.
In that ruling, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined the court’s three liberals, announcing that nothing in federal law requires ballots to be received by Election Day provided they are cast by that day. Although the ruling focused on Mississippi’s law, it also appeared to leave in place similar laws in at least 18 other states and territories, including Nevada and California, that harbor battleground congressional districts in the midterm elections.
After the decision was announced, Mr. Trump posted on social media, calling the ruling a “tremendous loss” and urging Congress to pass legislation that places restrictions on mail-in ballots and adds new voter identification requirements.
