{"id":20393,"date":"2026-07-29T00:23:42","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T19:23:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=20393"},"modified":"2026-07-29T00:23:42","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T19:23:42","slug":"court-panel-declines-to-block-trumps-mail-ballot-order-but-its-status-for-midterms-remains-unclear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=20393","title":{"rendered":"Court panel declines to block Trump&#8217;s mail ballot order, but its status for midterms remains unclear"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-article-body=\"true\" data-body-type=\"bodyblocks\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">A federal appellate panel on Tuesday refused to block President Donald Trump&#8217;s <a data-ylk=\"slk:executive order;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/donald-trump-mail-voting-elections-47cc334b1fb7742244a9c4f176b355cd\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">executive order<\/a> seeking to restrict mail voting, a day after the administration <a data-ylk=\"slk:asked the U.S. Supreme Court;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/trump-mail-voting-appeal-executive-order-supreme-court-5482700c21f4945d6991dff24776b525\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">asked the U.S. Supreme Court<\/a> to weigh in on the proposal in <a data-ylk=\"slk:a separate case;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/trump-mail-voting-appeal-executive-order-8bfb1f787f84fc60f9b6b284794b18b5\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">a separate case<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld <a data-ylk=\"slk:a May ruling;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/trump-elections-mail-voting-executive-order-9474fae41161dc5954295ae1370bcb88\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">a May ruling<\/a> by U.S. District Court Judge Carl J. Nichols that said an injunction against the order was premature. Nichols ruled that the Democrats and voting rights groups who challenged the order couldn&#8217;t seek the injunction until the Trump administration issued formal regulations governing it. The administration started releasing those directives days later.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The circuit court panel, with two judges appointed by former Democratic President Barack Obama and one by Trump, found that was proper and there were no noted dissents. But the unsigned decision noted that if the administration truly tried to force such changes in the few months remaining before November&#8217;s midterm election, it may well get halted by courts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;The action the Order contemplates would involve the President, whom the Constitution vests with no express authority over the conduct of elections, undertaking a substantial and unfunded overhaul of election procedures \u2014 including the implementation of a nationwide reform to Postal Service mail-handling processes \u2014on the threshold of the November election. Put differently, the Order &#8216;may not prove feasible to implement in any manner whatsoever,'&#8221; said the ruling, quoting a prior legal opinion.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">In a separate case filed by Democratic state officials, a federal judge in Massachusetts last month <a data-ylk=\"slk:blocked the executive order;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/trump-executive-order-elections-mail-voting-b28c3425c1dc968cd0f57c61fb7a684e\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">blocked the executive order<\/a> from taking effect for this year&#8217;s elections because it was already forcing states, which are granted the power under the U.S. Constitution to control their own elections, to revise their procedures on the fly. That ruling was upheld on Saturday by a Boston-based appeals court and then <a data-ylk=\"slk:was appealed;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/trump-mail-voting-appeal-executive-order-supreme-court-5482700c21f4945d6991dff24776b525\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">was appealed<\/a> to the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday by the Trump administration.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The Postal Service did not immediately respond to questions about what action it&#8217;s taking related to Trump&#8217;s executive order. But the union representing postal workers, which <a data-ylk=\"slk:opposes;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/postal-service-mail-voting-trump-midterms-d0883d8064fd512565e8b07e373a5a66\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">opposes<\/a> having its members implement the order, said Tuesday that its members are being directed to prepare an online portal through which voters will have to submit information to be eligible for mail ballots.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;The IT people in the background are moving forward with creating the portals to make sure that we can accomplish the task if given to us,&#8221; American Postal Workers Union President Jonathan Smith said in a telephone interview.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Trump has repeatedly tried to unilaterally change voting procedures since he took office for the second time, only to be blocked by the courts. The push follows <a data-ylk=\"slk:years of lies;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/capitol-riot-trump-election-lies-explainer-816a43ed964e6d35f03b0930e6e56c82?utm_source=homepage&amp;utm_medium=RelatedStories&amp;utm_campaign=position_03\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">years of lies<\/a> about vote fraud to try to explain away the president&#8217;s <a data-ylk=\"slk:loss to Democrat Joe Biden;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/election-claims-biden-won-explained-bd53b14ce871412b462cb3fe2c563f18\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">loss to Democrat Joe Biden<\/a> in 2020.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">In his March executive order, Trump directed the federal government to create a list of eligible voters and the U.S. Postal Service to deliver ballots only to those on that list. Lawsuits noted that the Constitution grants states control of their elections, not the president, and that Congress can pass laws changing procedures for federal elections but has not done so.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Trump signed <a data-ylk=\"slk:another executive order on elections;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/voting-elections-trump-executive-order-4e9edb53f47e61e241a43ceef8164022\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">another executive order on elections<\/a> last year, just months after taking office, that <a data-ylk=\"slk:would impose;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/trump-elections-voting-executive-order-citizenship-proof-4bbcf7e13183d8c5004ceb0ca53c7845\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">would impose<\/a> a nationwide voter ID requirement and force anyone registering to vote to provide documents proving they are U.S. citizens. Trump also is pushing Congress to pass <a data-ylk=\"slk:a sweeping voting bill;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/save-america-act-b6fcf12d7ef9434a1d4e788367291f60\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">a sweeping voting bill<\/a> that would impose the documentary proof of citizenship requirement, but it has stalled in the Senate as it faces opposition from Democrats and some lawmakers from his own party.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">___<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Associated Press writer John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas, contributed to this report.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A federal appellate panel on Tuesday refused to block President Donald Trump&#8217;s executive order seeking to restrict mail voting, a day after the administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on the proposal in a separate case. The three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld a&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20394,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/lo\/mysterio\/api\/c67db269de9c5fb043008adcb7d00bb36ec531b5006d89f46788e6c1e1932c04\/lightyear_networkapi\/resizefill_w1200;quality_80;format_webp\/https:%2F%2Fmedia.zenfs.com%2Fen%2Fap.org%2Fd161c2d2eca545b8c2bc66d8ff6d0d90","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-real-trending-viral-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20393"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20393\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/20394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}