# Federal judge blocks Trump executive order on mail voting **Published:** 2026-06-25T17:20:03.000Z **Source:** [Nebraska Examiner](https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/06/25/repub/trump-order-limiting-voting-by-mail-halted-by-federal-court/) **AI-generated:** yes (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) **Canonical:** https://lincolne.news/article/federal-judge-blocks-trump-executive-order-on-mail-voting A federal judge blocked major portions of President Donald Trump's executive order restricting voting by mail on Thursday, finding he exceeded his constitutional authority, according to a [report from the Nebraska Examiner](https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/06/25/repub/trump-order-limiting-voting-by-mail-halted-by-federal-court/). [U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani, an Obama appointee in Massachusetts, found that major parts of Trump's March 2026 anti-voting executive order were "legally void"](https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/judge-blocks-trump-mail-voting-executive-order/) for exceeding the president's power and violating the separation of powers by encroaching on states' authority to administer elections. The decision halts efforts by the U.S. Postal Service to require states to submit names of likely mail voters before it delivers ballots. It also stops the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from compiling lists of voting-age citizens in each state. "The Constitution does not grant the President any specific powers over elections," Talwani wrote in her 37-page ruling. She concluded that "the Constitution reserves the power to determine voter eligibility to the States alone." The executive order, signed March 31, directed the Postal Service and federal agencies to create systems for limiting mail-in voting. [The ruling marks a major win for voters before the midterms](https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/judge-blocks-trump-mail-voting-executive-order/), blocking the administration's ability to prevent mail ballots from being delivered to voters in states that refused to provide federal lists. The decision came one day after Postmaster General David Steiner told a U.S. Senate committee that the Postal Service would not deliver ballots in states that don't provide lists of anticipated mail voters—a position condemned by Democrats. [Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen had previously stated that Nebraska would comply with the executive order requirements](https://nebraskapublicmedia.org/en/news/news-articles/nebraska-secretary-of-state-plans-to-comply-with-presidential-election-order/), saying many of the order's provisions aligned with current state practices. However, with Talwani's ruling applying to the November midterm elections, that implementation is now blocked. Talwani noted that the Postal Service lacks any authorization by Congress to put forward binding regulations on mail-in voting. The order does not tell states how to use federal citizenship data, and the judge found the administration pointed to no relevant constitutional or legal authority supporting the compilation of such lists. The ruling is the first by a federal judge to block the March 31 order on the merits. An earlier Washington, D.C.-based judge had declined to stop the order because the Trump administration hadn't taken enough action to implement it at that time. The Trump administration has indicated it will appeal. ## Sources - [Nebraska Examiner](https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/06/25/repub/trump-order-limiting-voting-by-mail-halted-by-federal-court/) - [Democracy Docket analysis of Judge Talwani's ruling on the unconstitutionality of the executive order](https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/judge-blocks-trump-mail-voting-executive-order/) - [Nebraska Public Media reporting on the state's compliance with the executive order before the court ruling](https://nebraskapublicmedia.org/en/news/news-articles/nebraska-secretary-of-state-plans-to-comply-with-presidential-election-order/) --- This article was generated by AI (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) based on source material from Nebraska Examiner, enriched with 3 web searches. The original source is available at https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/06/25/repub/trump-order-limiting-voting-by-mail-halted-by-federal-court/.