Updated May 29, 2026 — A D.C. federal judge declined to block this executive order on May 28, ruling agencies haven’t acted yet. USPS has not begun the required rulemaking despite the late-May deadline. A separate challenge in Boston federal court is scheduled for hearing on June 2. 23 states plus DC have filed lawsuits. Five cases total.
What the Executive Order Does
On March 31, 2026, President Trump signed an executive order titled “Ensuring Citizenship Verification and Integrity in Federal Elections.” It has four parts.
First, the Department of Homeland Security must create state-by-state lists of voting-age citizens using federal databases, including the Social Security Administration and the SAVE program. These lists would be sent to states 60 days before federal elections.
Second, the U.S. Postal Service must create “mail-in and absentee participation lists” and design new ballot envelope requirements, including barcodes that USPS would need to approve.
Third, USPS would be authorized to refuse delivery of mail ballots from any voter not on the approved list.
Fourth, the Attorney General is directed to prosecute election officials, postal workers, vendors, and volunteers who process ballots for people not on the DHS lists. The order specifies prosecution “without regard for criminal intent.”
46 Million Americans Voted by Mail
46 million Americans voted by mail in 2024. Five states conduct elections primarily by mail.
Multiple states allow absentee ballot requests as late as the Monday before Election Day. The executive order’s 60-day list requirement would make that impossible.
The Brennan Center’s analysis identified who would be excluded from the lists. Citizens turning 18 between list creation and the election. People who became citizens during the 60-day window. Americans living abroad. Anyone who moved recently. USPS would not be required to notify voters that their ballots were not delivered.
The Database Has a Known Error Rate
The SAVE program, one of the databases the DHS lists would draw from, was designed for immigrant benefit eligibility. It was not built for voter verification. It “frequently mistakenly flags Americans as potential noncitizens, with a very high error rate.” There is no mechanism in the executive order for voters to challenge their exclusion from the list.
This is not a theoretical concern. Noncitizen voting, the problem the order claims to solve, accounts for roughly 0.0003% of ballots cast.
0.0003% of ballots are suspected noncitizen votes. Fewer than 500 cases in 160 million voters. The executive order would build a federal database to solve a problem that barely exists.
What Election Officials Said
Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes called it “a disgusting overreach from the federal government,” noting Arizona’s mail voting system has operated safely for decades.
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold said she expected “this unconstitutional overreach being stopped by the judiciary.”
Wisconsin Elections Commission Chair Ann Jacobs asked the question at the center of this. “What if the federal government says no? What happens to those voters?”
Dane County Clerk Scott McDonell was more direct. “The courts will strike it down faster than a cheetah on meth.”
What the Court Said
On May 28, Judge Carl Nichols declined to block the order. His reasoning was narrow. The agencies named in the order have not yet acted to implement it. Until they do, the plaintiffs cannot show they have been harmed.
He signaled that this could change. “The Court recognizes that the Postal Service may ultimately issue a final rule that directly affects Plaintiffs or their members.” The USPS rulemaking deadline was approximately 60 days from the order’s issuance, meaning the end of May 2026.
The lawsuit remains pending. A separate case is proceeding in federal court in Boston. Legal experts say implementation before November 2026 is virtually impossible. More than a third of election offices do not have a full-time employee. No funding was provided for implementation.
The Pattern
The mail voting order fits a sequence. The SAVE Act would block 21 million citizens from registering by requiring documentary proof of citizenship. States are purging voter rolls using error-prone data matching. The Supreme Court gutted Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. 19 congressional seats have been lost to discriminatory redistricting.
Each measure narrows who can vote. The mail voting order narrows how they can vote. Together, they reshape the electorate before a single ballot is cast.
Read more on the Voting Rights series and the SAVE Act brief.