Boston judge blocks Trump election order on voter lists, mail ballots

On June 25, 2026, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston granted summary judgment to 23 states and Washington, D.C., ruling that Sections 2 and 3 of Executive Order 14399 are legally void and that Section 5 is merely precatory. The order bars federal officials, other than the president, from implementing Sections 2 and 3 against the plaintiff states for the November 3, 2026 federal election or any earlier federal election.

Section 2 would have directed DHS and the Social Security Administration to compile citizenship-based voter lists. Section 3 would have pushed the Postal Service toward new mail-ballot rules. The court said Congress had not delegated those powers to the president and that election administration belongs to the states and Congress, not the White House.

The administration is expected to appeal, and a related case in Washington, D.C., is moving on a separate track. For readers in the plaintiff states, the practical effect is that the challenged parts of the order do not take effect there for now.

Sources

• U.S. District Court memorandum and order (Boston election-order ruling)
• Associated Press report on the Boston ruling
• Georgia Public Broadcasting report on the Boston ruling