Trump Asks Supreme Court to Allow Restrictions on Mail-In Voting to Take Effect

The emergency application comes after a federal appeals court held that the president’s executive order would confuse and possibly disenfranchise voters.

The Supreme Court in Washington on July 13, 2026. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

President Donald Trump asked the U.S. Supreme Court on July 27 to lift a lower court order blocking key parts of his executive order restricting voting by mail.

The Epoch Times obtained a copy of the new emergency application in Trump v. State of California, in which the federal government argues that the lower courts ruled incorrectly.

Trump’s executive order 14399, dated March 31, aimed to tighten mail-in voting rules in 23 Democratic-led states and the District of Columbia, which challenged it in court.

In June, Judge Indira Talwani of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts ruled that parts of the order were beyond the president’s power and blocked its enforcement in those jurisdictions.

On July 25, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit upheld Talwani’s order.

A majority of the First Circuit judges held that if the executive order were to take effect “for the elections taking place in September and November, it would sow confusion and threaten disenfranchisement of many eligible voters.”

The ruling dealt a blow to Trump’s election-integrity efforts ahead of the November midterm elections as Republicans try to hold on to slim majorities in both chambers of Congress.

In the new application, U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer said Talwani’s injunction was premature.

“[The Supreme Court] has repeatedly and recently recognized that courts cannot enjoin implementation of Executive Orders that leave open material issues that still need to be resolved by agencies, unless and until those agencies actually take concrete actions that injure the plaintiffs,” Sauer said.

Troy Myers contributed to this report.

This is a developing story and will be updated.