23 states sue Trump over new executive order targeting mail voting

Politics 23 states sue Trump over new executive order targeting mail voting By Melissa Quinn Melissa Quinn Senior Reporter, Politics Melissa Quinn is a senior reporter for CBSNews.com, where she covers U.S. politics, with a focus on the Supreme Court and federal courts. Read Full Bio Melissa Quinn April 3, 2026 / 3:57 PM EDT / CBS News Add CBS News on Google Washington — Officials from 23 Democratic states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit Friday seeking to block President Trump's latest executive order that aims to restrict mail voting, arguing the directive unconstitutionally attempts to interfere with states' administration of elections. The lawsuit, led by California, was filed with the U.S. district court in Massachusetts. It asserts that neither the Constitution nor any federal law gives the president the power to mandate widespread changes to states' electoral systems or voting procedures. The measure, they said, "transgress Plaintiff States' constitutional power to prescribe the time, place, and manner of federal elections" and seeks to "amend and dictate election law by fiat based on the President's whims." The executive order at the center of the challenge was signed by Mr. Trump on Tuesday, months before the November midterm elections, and lays out new requirements related to mail voting. The directive calls for the Department of Homeland Security to compile "State Citizenship Lists" of U.S. citizens who are eligible to vote in federal elections and requires the U.S. Postal Service to send mail or absentee ballots only to voters on each state's list. Mr. Trump's measure also lays out specific requirements for mail ballot envelopes, including requiring them to bear a unique barcode for tracking. States and localities that don't comply with the executive order are at risk of losing federal funding. The directive has already been challenged by a coalition of major Democratic groups, which accused Mr. Trump of attempting to rewrite election rules f...