Nevada and 22 other states challenging the Trump administration’s mail voting restrictions suffered a setback at the U.S. Supreme Court Monday in a case Attorney General Aaron Ford and his Democratic colleagues vowed to continue litigating.
An executive order President Donald Trump signed in March called on the U.S. Postal Service to propose a rule change that would ultimately require it to refuse mailing ballots to registered voters whose names aren’t on lists of U.S. citizens the federal government would compile. The agency finalized the rule last week.
Trump also ordered the Department of Homeland Security to prioritize investigating local and state election officials who issue ballots to ineligible would-be voters.
The Department of Justice petitioned the Supreme Court in July after an appeals court affirmed a lower-court injunction that paused the order.
SCOTUS hasn’t ruled on the case’s merits
The case was put in an emergency docket.
In a 6-3 vote, justices did not rule on the legality of the executive order but said the states lacked standing — for now — because they couldn’t yet prove harm since the provisions haven’t been implemented.
“The Court’s disposition of this application does not mean that any measure taken by the Government to implement the Order will necessarily be lawful,” the majority opinion said. “On that score, time will tell.”
The three liberal justices who dissented reiterated that point.
“Today’s decision does not address whether the President’s attempts to interfere with States’ administration of the November 2026 elections are lawful,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote. “Nor does it suggest that the Executive Branch has any constitutional or statutory authority to implement the President’s directives. Instead, today’s decision merely postpones adjudication of those challenges.”
Monday’s court ruling lifted the lower-court injunction. However, a separate court order that prevents the USPS from implementing its citizenship-list requirements remained in place, Nevada Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar’s office noted Monday.
With November’s midterms approaching, the Trump administration is running out of time to implement the order before the elections.
Plaintiffs argued that the order would usurp the states’ powers to conduct elections.
“Presidents do not get to rewrite election laws by executive order,” Ford said in a statement. “Nevada has the authority and responsibility to administer our elections in accordance with the Constitution and the laws passed by our Legislature, and we will defend that authority.”
The White House said the court’s decision was a major win for election integrity.
“These are commonsense measures that protect the security of mail-in ballots and ensure only Americans are electing American leaders,” White House spokesperson Lauren Bis wrote in a statement. “This Administration will continue to lawfully enact the agenda President Trump was elected on — which includes the safety and security of our elections.”
Elections to proceed as planned, for now
Aguilar’s office said that Nevada’s elections process has not changed, and that officials continue preparing to conduct them under existing law.
The state will continue to evaluate legal options to protect eligible voters, the office said, adding that mail ballots already go through stringent safeguards.
“The Supreme Court’s ruling is another attempt to attack states’ constitutional right to run elections, and it’s disheartening to see the justices give this executive order the ability to move forward,” Aguilar said in a statement. “The midterm election is less than 70 days away, and the President continues to spread lies about our elections and the security of mail ballots.”
Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo’s office did not respond to a message seeking comment but has previously said that he supports strengthening election integrity measures including voter IDs.
Meanwhile, Democrats and Republicans traded barbs after the Supreme Court issued its decision.
“Nevadans can see right through Donald Trump and Republicans’ latest attempt to rig the election,” said Nevada Democratic Party Chair Daniele Monroe Moreno in a statement. “After years of driving up costs, Trump knows that the affordability crisis they created is indefensible and is now working to prevent Nevadans from voting them out in November.”
The Nevada Republican Party did not respond to a message seeking comment, but the Republican National Committee did.
“The Supreme Court’s decision to clear the way for President Trump’s election integrity executive order is a vital step toward protecting our elections from far-left Democrats who want to cheat the system and open the floodgates to fraud,” wrote Ally Triolo, the RNC’s Election Integrity communications director, in a statement.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com.
