{"id":48868,"date":"2026-06-26T12:18:34","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T19:18:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=48868"},"modified":"2026-06-26T12:18:36","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T19:18:36","slug":"judge-blocks-unconstitutional-and-dangerous-trump-order-designed-to-derail-mail-in-voting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/06\/26\/judge-blocks-unconstitutional-and-dangerous-trump-order-designed-to-derail-mail-in-voting\/","title":{"rendered":"Judge Blocks \u2018Unconstitutional and Dangerous\u2019 Trump Order Designed to Derail Mail-In Voting"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"US-POLITICS-CALIFORNIA-VOTE\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

An election worker processes mail-in ballots during California\u2019s state primary election in the City of Industry on June 2, 2026. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Photo by Patrick T. Fallon\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe court rightly recognized that the president and the executive branch lack both the legal authority and the capacity to compile a complete and accurate list of US citizens or eligible voters in every state.\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Jessica Corbett<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jun 25, 2026 (CommonDreams.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the heels of a federal judge in the District of Massachusetts siding<\/a> with Democratic state attorneys general who challenged President Donald Trump\u2019s executive order requiring Americans to show proof of citizenship when registering to vote, another judge in the same district on Thursday blocked key portions of a second Trump order<\/a> attacking US elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the latest decision, District Judge Indira Talwani struck down Section 2, which orders the US Department of Homeland Security<\/a> to create \u201cconfirmed citizen lists\u201d of eligible voters, as well as Section 3, which directs the US Postal Service<\/a> to create<\/a> rules to limit the mailing of ballots to voters not included on its own lists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RECOMMENDED…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"US-POLITICS-CALIFORNIA-VOTE\"\/<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Virtual Elimination of Mail-In Voting\u2019 Feared Under Trump Postal Service Order<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"An<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

US Postal Service Sued for Advancing Trump\u2019s \u2018Disgraceful\u2019 Assault on Mail-In Voters<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Constitution does not grant the president any specific powers over elections. Broadly, the Constitution vests the president with \u2018executive power\u2019 and commands him to \u2018take care that the laws be faithfully executed,\u2019\u201d wrote Talwani, an appointee of former President Barack Obama<\/a>. \u201cSections 2 and 3… are legally void as they are ultra vires<\/a> and unconstitutionally violate the separation of powers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The judge also struck down Section 5, which requires the US Deparment of Justicee and all other executive agencies \u201cwith relevant authority\u201d to \u201ctake all lawful steps to deter and address noncompliance with federal law,\u201d plus mandates that states and localities \u201cpreserve, for a five-year-period, all records and materials\u2014excluding ballots cast\u2014evidencing participation in any federal election (e.g., ballot envelopes, regardless of carriers).\u201d She found that this portion of the order \u201cis merely precatory.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several state attorneys general were involved in both of this week\u2019s cases, including New York Democrat Letitia James, who called<\/a> Thursday\u2019s decision a \u201cmajor victory\u201d as well as a \u201ccritical step in defending the foundation of our democracy<\/a> and protecting the sacred right to vote.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Thursday also cheered the back-to-back wins against the Republican president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJust yesterday, President Trump\u2019s\u00a0first elections-related Executive Order was blocked<\/a>. Now, his\u00a0second<\/em>\u00a0elections-related executive Order has suffered the same fate, and rightfully so. As the federal judge wrote in today\u2019s decision, \u2018The Constitution does not grant the president any specific powers over elections.\u2019 Those powers are reserved to the states and Congress,\u201d Bonta said. \u201cDemocracy doesn\u2019t work on its own\u2014it requires constant vigilance. And that\u2019s what my fellow attorneys general and I will continue to provide.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The AGs weren\u2019t alone in challenging Trump\u2019s order. The Association of Americans Resident Overseas, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, League of Women Voters, LWV of Massachusetts, OCA \u2013 Asian Pacific American Advocates, and US Vote Foundation also filed suit, represented by the national and Massachusetts arms of the ACLU as well as Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Brennan Center for Justice, Legal Defense Fund, and LatinoJustice PRLDEF.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The attorneys and plaintiffs in that case said<\/a> in a joint statement that as Thursday\u2019s decision \u201cmakes clear, President Trump\u2019s executive order from March 2026 attempting to seize control of elections is unconstitutional and dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis ruling is a critical step in preserving free and fair elections,\u201d they said. \u201cThe court rightly recognized that the president and the executive branch lack both the legal authority and the capacity to compile a complete and accurate list of US citizens or eligible voters in every state. The ruling also rightly recognizes that the US Postal Service has no authority to limit the distribution of mail ballots.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe court has yet to rule on our request to block the executive order\u2019s provisions on mail voting on behalf of a nonpartisan coalition of voting rights<\/a> groups,\u201d they noted. \u201cThe same reasoning underpinning today\u2019s decision should hold in our case. President Trump\u2019s unlawful executive order violates the separation of powers, threatens the integrity of our elections, and must be enjoined from taking effect in the upcoming primary and midterm elections<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, White House<\/a> spokesperson Abigail Jackson signaled the administration will continue the fight, telling<\/a> multiple media outlets that \u201cPresident Trump is committed to ensuring that Americans have full confidence in the administration of our elections. The president\u2019s executive order lawfully protects our elections, and we are confident that we will ultimately prevail in its implementation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jackson also reiterated the administration\u2019s support for the proposed Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, saying that \u201cPresident Trump has also urged Congress to pass the SAVE America Act and other legislative proposals that would establish a uniform standard of photo ID for voting, prohibit no-excuse mail-in voting, and end the practice of ballot harvesting to secure our elections for generations to come.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump on Wednesday canceled<\/a> his planned signing ceremony for the bipartisan 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act \u201cuntil such time as we pass the desperately needed SAVE AMERICA ACT, which I consider to be a National Emergency.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, US Sen.\u00a0Elizabeth Warren<\/a>\u00a0(D-Mass.) summarized: \u201cCongress overwhelmingly passed a housing bill to bring down costs. But Trump just threw a tantrum. He\u2019s refusing to sign bipartisan legislation to make housing more affordable in a bizarre effort to try to rig the elections.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jessica Corbett<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jessica Corbett is a senior editor and staff writer for Common Dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Bio ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An election worker processes mail-in ballots during California\u2019s state primary election in the City of Industry on June 2, 2026.  (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon\/AFP via Getty Images) \u201cThe court rightly recognized that the president and the executive branch lack both the legal authority and the capacity to compile a… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2088],"tags":[2100,2101],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48868"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48868"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48868\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48869,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48868\/revisions\/48869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}