Trump's orders to require proof of citizenship and limit mail voting

Trump turned next to mail voting. In August 2025 he pledged to "lead a movement to get rid of MAIL-IN BALLOTS," a post that fact-checkers found included false claims,^[16] and he said he would sign an order mandating voter ID.^[17] On March 31, 2026, he signed an order tightening mail voting rules nationwide, directing his administration to compile lists of confirmed citizens eligible to vote in each state^[2] and instructing the Postal Service to determine who could be sent a mail ballot.^[3] Three lawsuits challenged it,^[3] and local election officials called it a "logistical nightmare" months before the midterms.^[9] Trump himself voted by mail in Florida elections that year.^[18][19]

In late June 2026, Judge Indira Talwani in Massachusetts halted the order's federal voter list and its limits on mail ballots,^[5] and another judge blocked the Postal Service from carrying it out.^[20] On August 24 the Supreme Court sided with the administration and lifted the block,^[6][21] and the Postal Service issued a 95-page rule to track every mail ballot.^[22] Democratic states filed new suits,^[8][23] and days later Talwani temporarily blocked the Postal Service plan again.^[24] Election officials said the rule came too late to follow,^[25] and a Postal Service whistleblower warned that the system to verify ballots could fail at multiple points.^[26] An appeals court refused to lift the block,^[27] and in mid-September the Supreme Court closed off the plan for the midterms.^[7] The Postal Service stopped work on its system for statewide voter lists,^[28] while Attorney General Todd Blanche defended the rules and said the Justice Department was investigating voter eligibility.^[29] The Supreme Court case over mail ballots that arrive after Election Day is followed separately.