On Sept. 14, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to reverse a lower court order blocking the implementation of an executive order President Donald Trump (R) issued in March that would prohibit the delivery of absentee/mail-in ballots to anyone not enrolled by state election officials in a U.S. Postal Service portal.

The ruling means that the rules implementing the order, issued by the USPS in August, will not be in effect for the Nov. 3 election. Those rules require state officials to enroll voters in a USPS portal in order for them to receive a ballot in the mail. The physical mail must also meet set standards and contain certain information, such as a unique barcode for each ballot envelope.

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani issued a preliminary injunction on Sept. 4 blocking the rules from being implemented for the 2026 election. The ruling came in response to two lawsuits filed by multiple states and organizations.

The U.S. Department of Justice then appealed that decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and the Supreme Court, arguing the rules fell within the authority Congress has given to USPS. On Sept. 10, the First Circuit denied the government's request for a stay, and on Sept. 13, a second district court judge issued a preliminary injunction blocking the rules.

In an unsigned order, the Supreme Court held that the “Government is unlikely to succeed on the merits of its challenge to the District Court’s preliminary injunction. And the equitable factors applicable for obtaining emergency relief from this Court do not favor a stay.”

Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote in a concurring opinion that “applying the rule in the 2026 elections would be arbitrary and capricious in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act because state and local election officials do not have sufficient time to reasonably implement the rule before the elections.” However, Kavanaugh wrote that there was “at least a fair prospect that the final rule falls within the Postal Service’s statutory authority.”

In a dissenting opinion, Justice Samuel Alito said that he believed the government had demonstrated the need for a stay. He was joined in the opinion by Justice Clarence Thomas.

Alito wrote that some of the plaintiffs likely do not have standing to sue and that the rules likely fall within USPS’s statutory authority. He wrote that the government has “a strong interest in enforcing the rule, and implementing it will also ‘enhance the visibility of federal ballot mail’ in order to better detect election fraud.”

At least three states — Alabama, North Carolina, and Wisconsin — have mailed ballots to voters in recent days. While the order blocks the rules from being implemented for the 2026 elections, states may voluntarily comply with its provisions if they wish.