The US Supreme Court granted President Donald Trump an interim legal victory in his effort to impose new restrictions on voting by mail, after it lifted a court decision that prevented his administration from implementing parts of an executive order related to mail-in ballot procedures, before the midterm elections scheduled for next November.

The court’s decision was issued by a majority of 6 votes to 3, with the three judges belonging to the liberal wing of the nine-member court dissenting. In its decision, the court did not definitively decide the constitutionality or legality of the procedures, but rather addressed the current stage of the judicial dispute and the appeal filed by a group of states.

A federal court had suspended the implementation of parts of the order after lawsuits filed by Democratic-led states, but the Supreme Court found that the appeal at this stage was premature, and that the states had not proven direct harm that would allow them to continue the lawsuit in its current form.

At the same time, the court stressed that its decision does not mean that any step taken by the administration to implement the order will necessarily be legal, leaving the door open to new judicial appeals as the measures begin to be implemented or their effects become apparent.

The file dates back to an executive order signed by Trump on March 31, 2026, entitled “Ensuring Verification of Citizenship and Integrity in Federal Elections,” and includes a set of procedures related to voter eligibility and postal voting.

The order directs the Department of Homeland Security, in coordination with the Social Security Administration, to prepare lists of citizens eligible to vote, and also requires the US Postal Service to establish new rules to regulate the sending of mail-in ballots.

The proposed procedures include the use of official envelopes designated for elections bearing electronic tracking codes, and linking the sending of mail-in ballots to specific lists of voters eligible to use this mechanism, in addition to other procedures related to verifying the eligibility of participants in the federal elections.

Despite the Supreme Court’s decision, a separate injunction remains in place and prevents the implementation of key parts of the plan, which means that the latest ruling does not automatically implement all the restrictions that the White House wants, while lawsuits continue before federal courts over the limits of the executive branch’s powers to organize elections.

The case comes a few months before the US midterm elections in November 2026, at a time when states have already begun preparing to print and send ballots and manage early and postal voting operations.

Over the past years, Trump has repeatedly criticized the expansion of mail-in voting, considering that this mechanism needs more stringent restrictions and controls, and linking his position to allegations about the possibility of fraud occurring through it.

In a remarkable irony, Trump himself used mail-in voting in the Republican Party primary elections in Florida this August. The White House confirmed on August 18 that the president cast his vote by mail, explaining that his presence in Washington and the performance of his presidential duties were behind his use of this mechanism.

The Supreme Court’s decision does not constitute a final ruling on the future of mail-in voting in the United States, as parts of the executive order remain the subject of a judicial dispute, while the issue could return again before the Supreme Court as lawsuits progress and attempts to implement new procedures begin.