In a major twist, conservative supreme court justices refuse to stand with Trump over his mail-voting overhaul

Late Monday, the Supreme Court left in place a preliminary injunction that stops President Donald Trump’s plan to change how mail ballots are handled before the November midterms, according to The Huff Post. The ruling means the Postal Service cannot put the new requirements into effect for this election cycle.

In a short concurrence, Justice Brett Kavanaugh said applying the rule to the 2026 elections would be arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act. He wrote that state and local election officials do not have sufficient time to reasonably implement the rule before the elections.

Democrat-led states joined together in a lawsuit seeking to halt the March executive order. They argued the changes could produce widespread confusion and delays and that voters could be “denied the ability to vote.”

Timing and budget questions keep the injunction in force

The March executive order directed the U.S. Postal Service to add new steps for mail ballots. The order’s requirements were part of a broader push to restrict mail voting, such as when Trump renewed his appeal to the Supreme Court ahead of the November midterms. Those steps included printing individualized barcodes on every mail ballot and sending lists of mail voters to the federal government in advance.

Ballots have already gone out in some states. Officials opposed to the order also flagged the expense of putting the new system in place.

A filing from current and former Republican election officials said, “No election office, at any level of government, has budgeted for the work the Rule requires.”

Kavanaugh wrote, “In my view, based on the briefing the Court has received at this interim stage, there is at least a fair prospect that the final rule falls within the Postal Service’s statutory authority.” He still found that the short window before Election Day made immediate use of the rule improper.

Justice Samuel Alito, joined by Justice Clarence Thomas, dissented. Alito said the government needed the ability to “better detect election fraud.”

Alito acknowledged the rule would be very difficult to implement so close to the election. He concluded that the difficulty was “not enough to convince me.”

He placed responsibility for the tight schedule on the states and the courts and said the Postal Service keeps “broad authority to regulate the mail.”

Trump and his allies have kept claiming voter fraud, especially in the 2020 contest he lost to former President Joe Biden. The selective outrage persists even as Trump’s approval hits new lows and the GOP faces losing control of Congress. He has not described other elections won by Republicans as “stolen.”

The midterm elections are set for Nov. 3.