Trump executive order directing USPS to restrict mail ballot delivery draws three immediate lawsuits

President Trump signed the executive order 'Ensuring Citizenship Verification and Integrity in Federal Elections' on March 31, 2026. The order directed DHS — working with SSA — to compile and transmit to each state's chief election official a list of individuals confirmed to be U.S. citizens eligible to vote. The list was to be provided to states 60 days before each federal election. The order also directed USPS to send mail ballots only to voters on that federal list.

The Constitution's Elections Clause (Article I, Section 4) gives states and Congress authority over the 'Times, Places and Manner' of congressional elections. It does not give the president any role. Judge CKColleen Kollar-Kotelly blocked a prior Trump election EO, writing: 'Our Constitution does not allow the President to impose unilateral changes to federal election procedures.' Critics also argued that directing USPS to make voter eligibility determinations conflicted with federal postal law, which establishes USPS as a neutral, nondiscriminatory carrier.

Three lawsuits were filed within 48 hours. The first was filed by the DNC in 🏛️Washington, D.C. The second was filed by the ACLU, League of Women Voters, and NAACP Legal Defense Fund in 🏛️Massachusetts. The third was filed by the Campaign Legal Center on behalf of LULAC and others in Washington, D.C. The lawsuits argued the order violates the Elections Clause, NVRA, Voting Rights Act, and federal postal law.

The order is part of a coordinated federal effort to gain access to state voter data. The DOJ Civil Rights Division, led by HDHarmeet Dhillon, simultaneously sued 30 states demanding voter registration records including partial SSNs. Together, the EO and the DOJ voter data campaign represent a two-track effort to build a federal voter database and use it to control ballot access.