Supreme Court Allows Trump Mail-In Voting Restrictions to Advance
Source: Fox Business · All Fox Business reports
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Summary
The Fox Business segment features legal analyst Gregg Jarrett reacting to a Supreme Court order allowing the Trump administration to proceed with an executive order restricting mail-in ballot delivery. The order directs DHS to compile citizenship lists from federal data and directs the Postal Service to deliver ballots only to those on approved lists. Jarrett describes it as advancing reasonable safeguards against fraud without banning mail voting, notes the Court found the 23 suing states lacked standing due to no concrete imminent harm, and predicts further litigation on the order's legality. The hosts highlight mail-in usage (nearly one-third in 2024), map of high-mail states, DHS claims of 257,000 noncitizens on rolls in four states, and that 18 suing states issue driver's licenses to noncitizens with automatic DMV registration. New Jersey's discovery of over 6,000 erroneous registrations is cited as evidence of foreseeable problems.
Editorial Assessment
The broadcast accurately captures that the Supreme Court lifted an injunction on procedural grounds (lack of standing/ripeness at the time), allowing implementation planning to move forward while lower courts continue reviewing the merits of the executive order. However, viewers miss that this is an emergency, unsigned order—not a final ruling on constitutionality—and several lower courts had found the order likely exceeded presidential authority over state elections and USPS operations. The noncitizen figures are presented as established fact, but they stem from preliminary, unverified matches using public voter files lacking citizenship data; subsequent state reviews (e.g., Nevada confirming only 185 of 15,900 flagged) and expert analyses show the methodology overstates confirmed cases, with actual prosecutions remaining very low. The Carter commission reference is distorted: while it flagged absentee ballots as a fraud risk, it did not call for restricting mail voting overall and Carter later endorsed its expansion with safeguards. Heavy emphasis on Democratic-led states' policies and fraud examples creates a one-sided impression that noncitizen voting is widespread and systemic, when studies consistently find it rare and not outcome-determinative. The framing leans toward portraying safeguards as commonsense enforcement rather than potential barriers to legitimate voting.
Key Moments
Supreme Court ruling is a major victory for Trump and those citing mail-in ballots as vulnerable to fraud; it advances reasonable restrictions using DHS citizenship lists so USPS only delivers to eligible citizens.
The 8/24/2026 unsigned SCOTUS order allowed planning to proceed after finding states lacked standing for a pre-implementation injunction; it explicitly did not rule on the order's lawfulness, which lower courts had blocked as likely ultra vires.
DHS caught nearly 257,000 illegal aliens on voter rolls in four states.
DHS released preliminary estimates (~256k potential matches across CA, NJ, NV, PA) from public files; states called the numbers speculative, later reviews (e.g. Nevada: 185 confirmed) showed far fewer, and no evidence of widespread actual voting.
New Jersey just caught more than 6,000 illegal aliens on its voter rolls.
NJ Gov. Sherrill announced ~6,600 erroneous registrations from a 2023-2024 MVC software error (noncitizens who said 'no' to citizenship were still forwarded); ~340-400 voted; the state is removing them.
A government commission decades ago with Jimmy Carter said mail-in voting is ripe for fraud and we've seen it unfold for decades.
The 2005 Carter-Baker report noted absentee ballots as a top potential fraud source and recommended safeguards but did not oppose mail voting; Carter later endorsed expanded vote-by-mail with improvements.
Trump's order does not require states to do anything; it simply enforces the law with safeguards and will be hard for Democrats to challenge.
The EO directs federal agencies and USPS actions that states argued commandeers their election administration; multiple courts found it likely unconstitutional, though SCOTUS has paused the injunction for now.
Notable Concerns
- Overstatement of Supreme Court ruling as a conclusive 'major victory' on the merits when it was procedural and temporary
- Presentation of DHS's 257,000 figure as confirmed noncitizen registrations without noting preliminary methodology, state challenges, or downward revisions in reviews
- Selective use of New Jersey's 6,000+ error (a state admission of a software glitch leading to ~400 improper votes) to imply broader Democratic malfeasance while omitting that actual illegal voting remains a tiny fraction of ballots
Sources Consulted
- Supreme Court Allows Trump to Pursue Mail Voting Limits, for Now
- Supreme Court allows Trump administration to move forward with order imposing restrictions on mail-in voting
- Supreme Court lifts one block on Trump mail-in voting plan
- DHS alleges over 256,000 non-citizens may be on voter rolls across 4 key states
- Fact-checking the Trump administration’s count of 250,000 noncitizens on the voter rolls
- Trump Overstates Magnitude of Noncitizen Voting in New Jersey
- The Trump administration is falsely claiming Jimmy Carter was against mail-in voting
- Nearly 1 in 3 Americans Voted by Mail in 2024
- 23 states sue Trump over new executive order targeting mail voting