by WorldTribune Staff, May 28, 2026 Non-AI Real World News

President Donald Trump’s executive order imposing restrictions on mail-in voting can be implemented, a federal judge ruled in rejecting a challenge to the order by Democrats.

Trump signed the order on March 31. It states that only U.S. citizens can vote in federal elections and that new measures were necessary to “enhance election integrity” for mail-in ballots, which have become used on a massive scale, mainly in Democrat-run states, in recent elections.

Judge Carl Nichols of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia rejected a request from Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, for an injunction against the order.

The Democrats argued in court that, absent an injunction, the federal government would compile lists of U.S. citizens and would coerce states into only allowing people on the lists to register to vote and vote in elections, even though the sources for the list are known to be deficient.

Judge Nichols disagreed, writing in a 26-page decision that while the order directed federal officials to compile the lists, it “does not mandate any action by a State once a List has been transmitted to it, and in any event, no infrastructure for compilation or transmission of the Lists has been established.”

The situation may change and the case can continue if the U.S. Postal Service issues a final rule affecting the plaintiffs, or if the government develops lists that erroneously omit certain individuals, the judge said.

“Plaintiffs may, of course, renew their motions if and when those future actions occur,” he wrote. “Until then, however, Plaintiffs cannot show that preliminary injunctive relief is warranted.”

Trump’s order directed the secretary of Homeland Security to compile lists of adult citizens living in each state and to transmit the lists to each state. It also said that the U.S. Postal Service shall propose new rules specifying that all ballots must be mailed in envelopes marked for elections, and that the service “shall not transmit mail-in or absentee ballots from any individual unless those individuals” are on the citizenship lists.

“The cheating on mail-in voting is legendary. It’s horrible what has been going on,” Trump said when signing the order. “If you don’t have honest voting, you can’t have, really, a nation.”

Democrats said the order exceeded a president’s authority and disrupted state oversight of elections.

“President Trump has tried again and again to rewrite election rules for his own perceived partisan advantage,” their complaint said.

Government lawyers told Nichols in a recent filing that the litigation was premature, given that agencies had not taken any steps to implement the order: “Whatever concerns Plaintiffs may have about possible future agency actions that may be taken to implement the Executive Order, there is currently nothing to litigate, much less to enjoin. Both as a practical matter and a doctrinal matter, the government cannot defend—and this Court cannot opine on—the validity of agency actions that do not exist, and the critical parameters of which have not even been decided.”

Meanwhile, a new Rasmussen Reports poll found that a majority of voters think the November midterm elections could be affected by cheating, and many still think the 2020 election was “rigged.”

The survey found that 59% of Likely U.S. Voters believe it’s likely that there will be widespread cheating that will affect the outcome of this fall’s congressional elections, including 25% who consider it Very Likely. Thirty-one percent (31%) don’t think it’s likely cheating will affect the midterms, including 15% who say it’s Not At All Likely. Ten percent (10%) are not sure.

Asked if they agree or disagree with the statement “There’s a ton of evidence that the [2020 presidential] election was rigged,” 46% of all voters in the poll said yes. That included 64% of Republicans, 39% of Independents, and 34% of Democrats.

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  Judge shuts down Democrats’ challenge to Trump’s mail-in ballot restrictions, WorldTribune.com