Supreme Court stops Trump plan that could have withheld millions of mail ballots

The US Supreme Court on Monday rejected President Donald Trump’s plan to change how mail ballots are sent to voters ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

A majority of justices blocked a proposed procedure that would have allowed the US Postal Service to withhold potentially millions of of mail ballots.

The court said the Trump administration “is unlikely to succeed on the merits of its challenge” in a brief unsigned order. Conservative Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented.

The ruling is a significant defeat for Trump, who has repeatedly criticised mail-in voting and made unsubstantiated claims of widespread fraud.

The administration described the proposed postal regulation as a “modest” measure designed to protect elections against fraud.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh agreed with blocking the rule for the midterms, writing that “state and local election officials do not have sufficient time to reasonably implement the rule before the elections.”

Alito disagreed, saying he took concerns about implementing the rule close to the midterms “very seriously”, but argued they were not enough to justify blocking it.