The SCOTUS Order on Mail-In Voting: What to Know
On August 24th, the Supreme Court lifted one block that prevented the implementation of Trump’s 2026 executive order targeting mail-in voting. Lots of press coverage made it sound like the Court signed off on his overall plan or allowed it to go into effect, but that’s not accurate. While it’s clear that the MAGA justices on the Court are willing to go to drastic lengths to give their favorite President a hand, this was a procedural decision on the timing of the lawsuit itself – they said that the lower court acted too early, not that Trump’s executive order is constitutional or legal. Below, we’ve gathered some basic guidance on what happened and what it means.
The Basics:
- In March 2026, Trump issued an executive order (EO) attempting to set new rules for mail-in voting. These rules would have let Trump’s Postmaster General work with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to deny delivery of ballots if they didn’t match a list of “approved voters.” Many states sued, and a federal judge blocked the EO from taking effect while legal challenges continue. This SCOTUS decision lifted that block.
- Multiple court cases are continuing to move forward and the status – the EO blocked or unblocked by a federal judge – may change quickly and repeatedly over the coming weeks. This is very far from a final decision, and we’re confident that legal advocates and state Attorneys General will ultimately be successful in shutting down this shameless attack on voters.
- This is a decision based on the timing of the lawsuit, not the merit of the case. The Court found that because the new Postal Service regulations weren’t yet final, they couldn’t yet be legally challenged.
- The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) plans to formally publish the rules on August 26th. At that point, they will be open to legal challenge, and California and other states have already announced they will re-file their lawsuits.
What this means:
- Nothing changed for voters with this decision. Voters who are eligible to vote by mail in their state can still do so.
- While not final, this decision makes it harder for many states to get ready for the midterms. It introduces uncertainty and chaos into the election preparations of the 23 states (plus DC) that sued the Trump administration. Ballots are scheduled to be mailed out in just a few weeks in some states, and now they face the possibility of having to create new systems, completely redesign their ballot envelopes, and build dangerous, unnecessary lists of voters “eligible” to vote by mail and share those lists with the Trump administration and the USPS.
- The chaos is the point. The Trump administration is trying everything they can to make it harder to vote, and to sow doubt in the results. They’re desperate to cling to power because they don’t want to be held accountable for their corruption and destructive policies.
- Some SCOTUS Justices get it. In her dissent, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said this: “Taking its eye off the ball, the majority misses the Government’s actual objective: to secure our imprimatur for its effort to foment chaos ahead of the November elections.”
- Voting by mail remains a safe, reliable way to cast your ballot. Due to procedural changes at the Postal Service it’s important to mail your ballot as early as possible, but the important thing is to make sure you vote – and if voting by mail works best for you, go for it.
How to respond:
- Our goal remains the same: preparation, not panic, is the path forward here. We’ll see many equally-chaotic moments over the next few months, and can’t over-index on any of them. We have a plan designed for moments like these – let’s get in formation and follow it.
- Follow the steps we’ve identified as most helpful:
- Prepare your networks and follow the guidance in the ‘What To Do Now’ section in the Hands Off Our Vote toolkit
- Make a plan to vote early, and encourage others to do the same
- Be ready for sustained mass mobilization this fall in order to enforce the results
Join the Hands Off Our Vote Movement
We know that Trump and his Big Lie cronies are plotting to do everything they can to undermine our elections in 2026. Whether it’s trying to end mail-in voting, targeting registration programs, blocking vote-counting, even trying to ban states from encouraging people to vote – it’s going to be no-holds-barred from them this year as they try desperately to block the free and fair elections.
But we’re going to cut through the noise, and we’re going to be ready for whatever dirty tricks they try. And we’re going to do it with community power and preparation, not panic.
Hands Off Our Vote is Indivisible’s national program to ensure all eligible voters get to cast their ballot, and that those ballots get counted. We’ll help you be ready to respond to any attacks, and we’ll shine a light on the bad actors threatening our basic constitutional rights.
By signing up you’ll get notified of key voting deadlines in your state, get updates on any threats to your voting rights and learn how to counter them, and be ready to mobilize in defense of your vote. You’ll also play an important role in rapid response moments whenever and wherever they try to pull those dirty tricks. We have tremendous power to protect our elections in 2026. Sign up here to get connected.
Traditionally election protection programs have focused on key swing states where the risk is highest. But this year, Trump is going for wholesale disenfranchisement across the country, so we’re stepping up and launching our biggest program in Indivisible’s history. And even if the elections are secure where you live, you can help protect at-risk voters in targeted areas during rapid-response moments and be a trusted messenger against the flood of disinformation.
What We Can Do: Our Plan to Push Back
Hands Off Our Vote is a national program, but its power comes from you, your community, and the work we can do together. We’ll focus on four main paths to help protect elections in every state:
- Help pre-bunk voting misinformation and be a trusted local messenger. We’re the most reliable messengers in our own networks and communities. Hands Off Our Vote will share information and resources like social graphics, designed to get ahead of lies about the election and spread accurate info instead. We can use them to inoculate against misleading information, and people are more likely to believe it because it’s coming from someone they know and trust.
- Track local/state attacks on voting rights and respond. In a year this big, we’ll all need to be eyes and ears to shine a light on attempts to undermine our vote. If local election administrators or elected officials try to make changes that make it harder to vote or have a free and fair election, we can be ready to respond fast. Maybe it’s writing letters to the local paper, maybe it’s a protest, maybe it’s reaching out to press, maybe it’s something that merits a broader response – the goal is to make sure that desperate republicans can’t try to steal the vote because they think that no one will notice or have the power to push back.
- Participate in national calls to action and be ready for rapid response moments. Hands Off Our Vote will share out calls to action whenever they’re needed across the country, so we can stand together when they try something. National community power, all working to protect the vote! Even if elections are smooth in your area, you can help when other areas are targeted by joining emergency phone banks or uplifting rapid response actions.
- Get trained and ready for election support and mass mobilization this fall. There will be two national trainings in August, and more this fall. If Trump and his allies seek to deny the election, like seizing ballot boxes or refusing to seat the election winners, Hands Off Our Vote and partners across the country will be ready to mobilize for large-scale protests.
HANDS OFF OUR VOTE! A TOOLKIT FOR ELECTION PROTECTION
We’ve created a comprehensive toolkit to help you get started, be an effective messenger, start planning for rapid response moments, ask the right questions of your election officials, and lots more. Start learning what you can do to make sure our elections are protected in 2026.
Download the printable PDF versionHANDS OFF OUR VOTE! TOOLKIT
Resources
Hands Off Our Vote Flyer
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Download FlyerSoSha Posts
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Past Calls
Hands Off Our Vote! Indivisible Election Protection 101 Training – 8/19/26
Hands Off Our Vote! Indivisible’s National Election Protection Kickoff Call – 07/30/2026