Status of Washington's mail-in voting left unsettled after Supreme Court ruling

OLYMPIA — A divided Supreme Court on Monday, August 24, 2026, allowed the Trump administration to move forward with plans to restrict mail-in voting before the midterm elections. The emergency order stayed one of two injunctions issued by a lower court that prevented the federal government from implementing the new regulations.

Two lawsuits, one brought by the League of Women Voters and the second filed by states, challenged the president’s executive order. The Supreme Court ruling only addressed the states’ lawsuit

The Court did not rule on the merits or constitutionality of the President’s executive order restricting mail. Instead, it determined that the states’ injunction was premature because the final rule had not been published.

Trump’s executive order, issued in March of this year, directed the Department of Homeland Security to compile a list of citizens eligible to vote and called for the U.S. Postal Service to accept ballots only from voters on those lists.

With less than two months until Election Day, and even less time before early voting begins in many states, it is unclear if the executive order’s rules could be implemented.

All counties in Washington state have voted by mail since 2011.

“The Office of the Secretary of State remains committed to defending Washington’s constitutional authority to administer our elections,” said Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs. “These actions are an unconstitutional intrusion into state-run elections, and we will continue to fight them.”

The U.S. Postal Service is set to publish its final rule on Wednesday. The full text is available now for public review. The second injunction that the Supreme Court did not rule on prevents the USPS from implementing the rule for the November election. However, if the Court issues a stay for that injunction, it will go into effect immediately.

The final rule would place significant burdens on county elections offices and the Office of the Secretary of State ahead of the upcoming midterm elections. 

“These last-minute requirements would place significant burdens on state and county election officials at a time when our resources are already strained,” said Hobbs. “Our focus should be on administering a secure, accurate, and accessible election for Washington voters, not implementing unnecessary federal requirements just weeks before ballots are mailed. We will continue to fight these unconstitutional actions to ensure that elections in Washington are free and fair.”

The U.S. Constitution gives the states and Congress responsibility for regulating federal elections. Known as the Elections Clause, Article I, Section 4 of the Constitution, empowers states to determine the “times, places and manner” of holding federal elections, while Congress has the power to “make or alter” such rules. According to the Library of Congress, the President does not have any constitutional authority over elections and cannot pass legislation or unilaterally rewrite voting rules through executive orders. The presidency is limited to enforcing existing federal laws passed by Congress.