Trump Signs Order Creating Federal Voter List and Restricting Mail Ballots, Sparking Multistate Lawsuits

On March 31, 2026, President Trump signed an executive order directing the Department of Homeland Security and Social Security Administration to compile 'State Citizenship Lists' of eligible voters and requiring the U.S. Postal Service to only deliver mail ballots to those on pre-approved state lists. The order also mandates unique trackable barcodes on ballot envelopes and threatens to withhold federal funding from noncompliant states. Within days, a coalition of 23 Democratic states and D.C. filed suit in federal court in Massachusetts, arguing the order violates the Constitution's Elections Clause, which reserves election-administration power to the states and Congress — not the president. Multiple election law experts called the order unconstitutional and practically unenforceable ahead of November's midterm elections, noting that a similar 2025 executive order on elections was largely blocked by federal courts on the same grounds.