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BOSTON, United States – A federal judge in Boston has temporarily blocked key parts of a Trump administration executive order that sought to restrict who could vote by mail in the 2026 U.S. midterm elections. In a preliminary injunction issued on June 25, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani barred the U.S. Postal Service from refusing to deliver mail-in ballots to voters not listed on a federally approved roster. The order applies to 23 states and the District of Columbia that sued the administration, including battlegrounds such as Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Talwani wrote that the federal government lacks authority to create centralized lists of adult citizens or to decide who can vote by mail, stating that no law enacted by Congress gives the Postal Service power to control mail-in voting. The Trump administration said it would appeal the ruling and the White House said it remains confident the executive order will be implemented by the November election. WASHINGTON, United States – The March 2026 executive order directed the Postal Service to set mandatory specifications for mail-in ballot envelopes, including barcodes, and required states to submit voter lists 60 days before any federal election as a condition for ballot delivery. It also instructed the Department of Homeland Security to work with the Social Security Administration to build a national list of adult citizens. All 47 members of the Senate Democratic Caucus urged the Postmaster General to drop the plan, warning it would expand presidential control over federal elections. The dispute comes amid a wider clash over election administration that includes Justice Department lawsuits seeking unredacted voter rolls from 30 states and concerns from election officials about the most aggressive federal intervention in state-run elections in decades. A separate federal judge in Washington previously blocked parts of an earlier Trump election-related order, ruling that the president cannot unilaterally change federal election procedures.

Prepared by Lauren Mitchell and reviewed by editorial team.