BOSTON (AP) 鈥� A federal judge on Thursday halted President Donald Trump鈥檚 that sought to create a federal voter list and limit who can receive a mail ballot.
U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani, who was nominated by Democratic President Barack Obama, sided with a coalition of nearly two dozen states that challenged the Republican president’s order in granting a summary judgment. Her ruling applies to this year’s midterm election cycle.
Plaintiffs , both filed in federal court in Boston, that Trump鈥檚 order should be because the states and Congress, not the president, have the power to set election rules. The judge agreed, saying in her ruling that the provisions of Trump’s order seeking to create a federal list of eligible voters and using the U.S. Postal Service to determine who can receive a mail ballot are 鈥渓egally void鈥� because they “unconstitutionally violate the separation of powers.鈥�
It was the second ruling in as many days against executive orders Trump has signed seeking oversight of the nation’s elections. A prohibited an executive order he had signed last year that would have required people to show documents proving their citizenship when registering to vote.
Order targeted mail voting, administration likely to appeal
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, whose state was among the plaintiffs, celebrated the court鈥檚 decision.
鈥淢illions of independents, Republicans and Democrats across Arizona have voted by mail for decades,鈥� she said in a statement, noting that nearly 80% of ballots in the state are cast by that method.
Mayes, a Democrat, singled out military families, voters in the state鈥檚 rural expanses and Native Americans who cast ballots from tribal lands.
鈥淒onald Trump鈥檚 executive order targeted all of these voters,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut today, the courts affirmed what the Constitution makes clear: States run their elections, not the President.鈥�
The White House stood by Trump’s executive order and indicated the administration would appeal the ruling. The order, said spokeswoman Abigail Jackson, 鈥渓awfully protects our elections, and we are confident that we will ultimately prevail in its implementation.鈥�
The administration, in its motions to dismiss the lawsuits challenging the order, argued that the motions were premature and that plaintiffs lacked the legal basis to bring their claim based on the Administrative Procedure Act, which governs how federal agencies develop and issue regulations.
But in an interim order before Thursday’s ruling, Talwani said the motions pertaining to this year鈥檚 election cycle were relevant: 鈥淚n light of the EO鈥檚 specific deadlines over the next three months, and the reality that elections will be occurring throughout this period with the November 3, 2026 midterm occurring in just five months, postponing judicial review is impracticable and may inflict significant hardship on Plaintiffs,鈥� she wrote. That order denied the Trump administration’s motion to dismiss the challenges.
Executive order sought to give Postal Service a central role in elections
Trump鈥檚 executive order, the second one during his second term, comes as he continues to raise the specter of widespread voting by noncitizens as a reason to change election rules. But states already have detailed processes aimed at keeping their voter rolls accurate, and voting by noncitizens has been . It also is that can be punishable by deportation.
Trump issued his second order in March after a bill he supported to overhaul voting . The order would have had the federal government 鈥� through the director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the commissioner of the Social Security Administration 鈥� create a 鈥渟tate citizenship list鈥� of eligible voters. It then directed the U.S. Postal Service to deliver mail ballots only to those on the list.
Election officials argued that it was ripe for abuse and could cause chaos.
The Postal Service has published required by Trump鈥檚 executive order in the Federal Register. Among other things, the rule would not apply to primary elections or overseas ballots.
Postal Service workers have pushed back against the order, saying they are not equipped to determine who is eligible to vote in each state. After Trump issued his order last spring, the National Rural Letter Carriers鈥� Association said 鈥渞isks politicizing one of the nation鈥檚 most trusted public institutions.鈥�
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat whose state was among the plaintiffs, said the executive order illustrated how Trump was attempting to 鈥渁buse power in previously unthinkable ways鈥� to interfere in elections.
She said it 鈥渟trains credulity鈥� to think the U.S. Postal Service could set up a workable system for pre-screening individual voters to determine whether they would be allowed to vote by mail, adding that it would be 鈥渁 shocking violation of American constitutional rights.鈥�
The Postal Service did not immediately respond Thursday to requests for comment.
Trump’s second election executive order faces multiple legal challenges
The lawsuit seeking summary judgment was filed by Democratic attorneys general representing 22 states and the District of Columbia. Also signing on were attorneys representing Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, which has a Republican attorney general.
The states also told the court that the move imposes a costly burden on election officials to comply and would spread fear about the possibility of prosecution. Stephen Pezzi, a lawyer for the Trump administration, had argued that no one would be prosecuted for violating the order.
The other lawsuit filed in Talwani鈥檚 court was by the League of Women Voters and other voting rights groups, which have sought a preliminary injunction against the executive order.
In yet another lawsuit filed against the executive order, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., in May that it was too early to block the order because it had yet to be implemented. That lawsuit was brought by Democratic and civil rights groups, which have appealed.
Since his 2020 presidential election , Trump has groundlessly claimed mail voting is rife with fraud and has into that year鈥檚 vote, even though , including , found it was . Trump also has said he wants to 鈥渢ake over鈥� election administration in Democratic areas.
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Barrow reported from Atlanta and Hanna from Topeka, Kansas.
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