A federal judge has halted enforcement of key provisions in a Trump administration executive order targeting mail-in voting procedures, ruling that the White House overstepped constitutional boundaries by attempting to regulate state election processes and threatening federal funding.
U.S. District Judge John H. Chun issued a sweeping 75-page decision Friday blocking the Trump administration from implementing major portions of an executive order designed to reshape federal election procedures. The ruling centered on the administration’s attempt to impose an Election Day receipt deadline for mail-in ballots and restrict federal election funding to states that declined to adopt stricter voter registration requirements.
In his decision from Seattle’s federal court, Judge Chun, appointed during the Biden administration, determined that the executive order violated constitutional principles of federalism and separation of powers. The Constitution grants states primary authority over election administration, with Congress holding limited oversight powers. The presidency, Chun concluded, possesses no such constitutional mandate.
“The Constitution assigns the states all authority to regulate the time, place, and manner of elections, subject only to the limitations by Congress,” Chun wrote in his opinion. “As the Constitution assigns no authority to the President over federal election administration, the President’s authority to promulgate a national ballot-receipt deadline cannot stem from the Constitution.”
The executive order emerged from longstanding disputes over mail-in voting procedures, which President Trump has criticized since his 2020 electoral defeat. Trump has persistently characterized that election as fraudulent, attributing his loss partially to expanded mail-in voting implemented during the coronavirus pandemic.
The directive specifically challenged state policies permitting absentee and mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted after that date. The order described this practice as unreasonable, despite its widespread acceptance across numerous states.
Judge Chun additionally blocked provisions directing the Election Assistance Commission to withhold funding from states refusing to implement federal registration forms requiring documentary citizenship verification.
Multiple Democratic-controlled states filed legal challenges immediately following the order’s announcement, asserting presidential overreach into state electoral matters. Oregon and Washington pursued separate litigation, arguing they faced distinct harm as states conducting elections entirely through mail-in voting.
The decision represents a substantial setback for the administration’s efforts to federalize election procedures and restrict mail-in voting access. The ruling underscores ongoing tensions between federal executive authority and state sovereignty in election administration.
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