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OLYMPIA – The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected the Trump administration’s attempt to impose federal control on mail-in voting ahead of the midterm elections.
Election officials in many states warned the president’s efforts, if successful, would sow election chaos throughout the country.
Spokane County Auditor Vicky Dalton was relieved when learning of the high court’s decision Monday evening.
“It’s like this rubber band has been around my lungs, and right at this moment, I feel like I can actually breathe,” Dalton said in an interview.
In a 7-2 decision, the court found the federal government was “unlikely to succeed on the merits of its challenge” to lift a lower court order blocking the new ballot requirements from taking effect. The ruling did not provide rationale for the court’s decision.
In a concurring opinion, Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote there was a “fair prospect” the rules fall within the Postal Service’s authority.
“But applying the rule in the 2026 elections would be arbitrary and capricious in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act because state and local election officials do not have sufficient time to reasonably implement the rule before the elections,” Kavanaugh wrote.
Conservative Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented.
The Postal Service in August finalized the new requirements, which say states need to use specific ballot-envelope designs, a unique tracking barcode and require election officials to submit voter information into a federal portal.
The federal government also attempted to establish a federal database of eligible voters and direct the United States Postal Service to only transmit ballots to voters on the list. The executive order signed by President Donald Trump earlier this year threatened elections officials with criminal prosecution and the loss of federal funding for noncompliance.
Washington and 24 other states filed a lawsuit in federal court in Massachusetts last month seeking to block the new rules from taking effect.
Washington Attorney General Nick Brown said in a statement Monday that the ruling was “a huge win for orderly elections this November.”
“State and local elections officials can now focus on what they do best – administering legitimate elections that count every eligible ballot cast,” Brown said. “Our office will remain vigilant around any other attempts by this administration to meddle in the current election while we continue the longer court fight against the administration’s illegal attack on mail-in voting.”
Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson wrote on social media Monday that the ruling was “another victory for fair elections.”
“We won’t stop fighting Trump’s unlawful attempt to disenfranchise thousands of voters in Washington state,” Ferguson wrote.
Both of Washington’s democratic senators hailed the ruling on Monday.
Sen. Maria Cantwell wrote on social media that she was “glad a majority of the Supreme Court Justices rejected Trump’s mail-in ballot scheme that would have create d chaos and denied many Americans the right to vote.”
Sen. Patty Murray called the ruling an “important victory for our democracy.”
Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs said in a statement that “the message is simple” for Washington voters.
“Nothing is changing about Washington elections right now,” Hobbs said. “Voters will continue to receive their ballots by mail, and I encourage every eligible Washingtonian to make a plan to vote. Go to VoteWA.gov to check your voter registration and find official ballot drop boxes near you.”
After announcing the lawsuit in August challenging the new requirements, Hobbs said it would be “next to impossible” for election officials across the state to print new ballots that fit the new criteria in time for the November election.
Dalton said Monday that Spokane County is nearly finished printing ballots, and ballots would go out this week for overseas and military voters.
“For vote by mail, it’ll just be the normal operation. So people will get their ballots in the mail, and they can send them back either through the mail or by dropping them in our drop boxes,” Dalton said. “And I still highly recommend using our drop boxes rather than the U.S. Postal Service to return them back to us.”
