# Trump administration moves to restrict mail voting before November midterms  
**Published:** 2026-06-08T21:35:47.000Z  
**Source:** [Nebraska Examiner](https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/06/08/repub/trump-administration-swiftly-moves-ahead-on-plans-to-restrict-voting-by-mail-in-the-states/)  
**AI-generated:** yes (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001)  
**Canonical:** https://lincolne.news/article/trump-administration-moves-to-restrict-mail-voting-before-november-midterms

The Trump administration is moving swiftly to implement a March executive order restricting voting by mail ahead of the November midterm elections, even as multiple lawsuits challenge its legality and raise questions about its feasibility.

[According to reporting from the Nebraska Examiner](https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/06/08/repub/trump-administration-swiftly-moves-ahead-on-plans-to-restrict-voting-by-mail-in-the-states/), the Department of Homeland Security will allow states to access federal citizenship data by June 30 and plans to monitor mail ballot flows for signs of voter fraud. The announcement comes in a court filing that outlines the administration's two-pronged approach to verifying voter citizenship through federal databases.

[Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen said the state will comply with the executive order](https://nebraskapublicmedia.org/en/news/news-articles/nebraska-secretary-of-state-plans-to-comply-with-presidential-election-order/), which requires states to provide lists of mail-in voters and allows federal oversight of ballot distribution. Evnen indicated the requirements would not affect Nebraska's primary election but would apply to the November general election, pending completion of the rulemaking process.

The executive order directs Homeland Security to create citizenship lists for every state by comparing voter rolls against federal immigration and Social Security databases. State election officials would use these lists to identify potential noncitizen voters. The order also requires the U.S. Postal Service to limit ballot delivery only to voters on pre-approved state lists and to implement barcode tracking on ballots.

Democrats, voting rights organizations, and some state election officials are challenging the order in at least five lawsuits. Critics argue the order violates the Constitution by shifting election administration authority from states and Congress to the federal executive branch. "No president has the authority to unilaterally rewrite election rules or dictate how states administer their elections," said Marcia Johnson, chief of activation and justice at the League of Women Voters.

The order relies heavily on the SAVE system, a Department of Homeland Security database originally designed to verify immigration eligibility for benefits. [Election officials and experts warn the system has been transformed into an error-prone screening tool that wrongly flags U.S. citizens as noncitizens](https://campaignlegal.org/update/what-save-system). The SAVE program has documented accuracy issues, with some Texas counties finding error rates above 14 percent among flagged voters.

About 30 percent of voters cast mail ballots in the 2024 election, according to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. Any restrictions implemented before November could disrupt voting for tens of millions of Americans. President Trump, who has long attacked mail voting but votes by mail himself, contends the restrictions are necessary to combat noncitizen voting—a rare phenomenon documented in fewer cases annually than the number of Americans struck by lightning.

Despite multiple legal challenges, the order remains in effect. A federal judge in Washington, D.C., declined in late May to block the order, finding it premature to rule before federal agencies had taken sufficient action. Another Massachusetts federal judge held a hearing but has not yet issued a decision.

## Sources

- [Nebraska Examiner](https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/06/08/repub/trump-administration-swiftly-moves-ahead-on-plans-to-restrict-voting-by-mail-in-the-states/)
- [Nebraska Public Media: Nebraska secretary of state plans to comply with presidential election order](https://nebraskapublicmedia.org/en/news/news-articles/nebraska-secretary-of-state-plans-to-comply-with-presidential-election-order/)
- [Campaign Legal Center: What Is the SAVE System?](https://campaignlegal.org/update/what-save-system)

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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/2026/06/08/repub/trump-administration-swiftly-moves-ahead-on-plans-to-restrict-voting-by-mail-in-the-states/.