NEW YORK, June 25 (Xinhua) -- A U.S. federal judge has blocked key provisions of President Donald Trump's executive order that attempts to tighten rules for mail-in voting and citizenship verification for federal elections.
U.S. District Judge in Boston Indira Talwani ruled on Thursday that sections 2 and 3 of Executive Order 14399 are "unconstitutional and exceed presidential authority." She issued a permanent injunction barring federal agencies from implementing the provisions in 23 states and the District of Columbia ahead of the November 2026 midterm elections.
President Trump's March executive order, the second election-related order issued during his second term, sought to tighten controls on mail-in voting by requiring the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to deliver ballots only to voters whose names appear on federally approved voter lists.
The order directed USPS to establish new regulations requiring states to submit voter rolls that meet specified federal standards. Under the proposed rules, ballots would not be delivered to individuals whose names do not appear on those lists. The order also set a late-July deadline for USPS to finalize the regulations.
In addition, the order instructed the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to compile lists of verified U.S. citizens using federal records and provide them to state election officials at least 60 days before each federal election. The lists were intended to assist states in verifying voter eligibility.
Judge Talwani found that the measures "improperly interfered with states' constitutional authority to administer elections and determine voter eligibility." The court ruled that the U.S. president does not "have any specific powers over elections."
The lawsuit seeking summary judgment was filed by Democratic attorneys general representing 22 states and the District of Columbia. They argued that the order would force them to make costly last-minute changes to their mail voting systems, potentially disrupting preparations for the November midterm elections and confusing voters.
The Trump administration defended the order as necessary to strengthen election integrity and prevent fraud. The court, however, concluded that the challenged provisions violated the separation of powers and the Constitution's allocation of election responsibilities to the states.
The ruling means that, for the November 2026 elections, the plaintiff states and the District of Columbia will not be subject to the mail-in voting restrictions and citizenship-verification requirements challenged in the lawsuit. ■