Appeals Court Refuses to Revive Trump's Mail-Voting Order in 23 States Before the Midterms

A three-judge panel of the First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined on July 25, 2026 to lift an injunction blocking President Trump's April 1 elections executive order in 23 states and the District of Columbia. The order directs DHS to build state citizenship lists from federal data, send them to state election officials, and have the Postal Service withhold mail-in ballots from people not on those lists. The panel said the government had failed to justify a stay, noting the injunction "prevents the federal Defendants from enforcing the EO in the Plaintiff states' upcoming primary and general federal elections in September and November."

The ruling leaves lower-court decisions from late June and early July in place roughly three months before elections that will decide control of Congress. Because the order routes federal agencies into ballot distribution — an area the Constitution and federal law largely leave to the states — the case turns on how far executive action can reach into state election administration.

A district judge concluded in late June that key parts of the order were unconstitutional. The appeal remains pending on the merits; the injunction stands.