What to Know About Mail-In Voting for the 2026 Midterms
The Supreme Court has rejected the Trump administration's attempt to impose new rules for mail-in voting in the upcoming midterm elections. President Trump's executive order would have required the U.S. Postal Service to establish criteria for mail-in ballots, threatening to withhold delivery for non-compliant states.
The story so far
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How outlets cover it
6 outletsNot rated on the left–right scale. It describes Western party politics and doesn’t fit state media or outlets outside that system, so we show ownership and country instead.
Open questions and key claims
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote that the rule “lets another shoe drop in the Kafkaesque nightmare that our precedents have been steadily creating for certain plaintiffs who seek to bring election-related challenges.”
New York Attorney General Letitia James called the decision a “painful setback” but vowed it would “not be the final word.”
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote that the decision “needlessly injects chaos and uncertainty into the upcoming midterm elections”.
The president of the NAACP said: “they are trying to do everything they possibly can to make it difficult for you to vote.”
“USPS has no authority to decide who can and cannot vote by mail,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James.
States claim the USPS policy is an effort to 'rewrite federal election law and usurp the authority of the states and Congress'.
Donald Trump does not run elections. States do. And his latest attack on democracy is proof of how weak he has become.
State attorneys-general argue the measures are unconstitutional and would inflict 'significant, imminent, and irreparable harm' on states.
Who and where
Related stories over time
same people and places- Jul 26 – Jul 28 earlier
- Aug 22 – Sep 16◆ This story