本周一，美国最高法院采取行动，允许总统唐纳德·特朗普在11月中期选举前实施其关于邮寄选票行政令的关键部分。
这项以6比3通过的裁决遭到了法院自由派大法官的反对。裁决允许国土安全部编制一份联邦公民名单并与各州共享；允许司法部长优先起诉可能向不合格选民发放选票的州官员；并批准美国邮政局（USPS）针对各州邮寄选票设计进行规则制定。
然而，该裁决并未涉及行政令中最具争议的部分：要求美国邮政局核实每位接收邮寄选票人员的投票资格，并拒绝向不在政府名单上的人发放选票。该条款在另一起诉讼中仍处于被叫停状态。
保守派多数法官在一份未署名的一致意见书中表示，提起诉讼的民主党主导各州尚未受到该行政令的实质性损害，且下级法院法官在阻止其实施时越权了。该意见明确指出，法院并未就特朗普最终可能选择如何实施该行政令的合法性表明立场。
“在这方面，只能让时间来证明。”法院写道。
意见书中称：“如果邮政局的最终规则对各州造成损害，它们可以对该规则提出质疑。”
目前尚不清楚该裁决对11月中期选举的直接影响，但许多法律专家表示，仅凭这一裁决本身不太可能对选民产生重大改变。
在异议意见中，大法官索尼娅·索托马约尔（Sonia Sotomayor）在埃琳娜·卡根（Elena Kagan）大法官的附议下表示，她认为该行政令已经对各州造成了潜在损害，现在应就案件实质问题进行审理。大法官凯坦吉·布朗·杰克逊（Ketanji Brown Jackson）则在单独的异议意见中指责保守派同僚在选举前夕加剧了选举混乱。
上周五，美国邮政局公布了一项最终规则，规定了各州在打印由邮递员运送和追踪的选票时必须采取的步骤；目前尚无各州就该规则的具体条款提起诉讼。
邮政局的新规则为所有邮寄选票增加了核实要求，这虽未达到特朗普的预期，但增加了审查力度。邮政局此前曾表示，一旦最高法院解除下级法院下达的禁令，这些变更将立即生效。
根据拟议的变更，各州将被要求收集和报告基本的选民信息（如选民的姓名和家庭住址），并将其与分发的每张邮寄选票上的唯一条形码绑定。目前，各州在追踪此类信息方面没有标准化要求或方法，而是由各州自行决定其邮寄投票系统的运作方式。
随后，各州选举管理部门将被要求在选票进入邮寄系统前，将这些信息输入“联邦选票邮寄门户”。
美国邮政局表示，对于不遵守这些变更的州，它将拒绝为其运送选票。
此举是在特朗普政府数月来以“选举诚信”为名试图收集选民信息之后发生的。一些专家担心，将这些信息集中到联邦手中会破坏宪法规定的各州管理选举的体系。
“如果政府能够决定谁足够‘美国人’以登记投票，谁能充分证明这一点，那么他们将拥有塑造选民群体的巨大权力，”两党非营利组织“竞选法律中心”（Campaign Legal Center）的投票倡导主任乔纳森·迪亚兹（Jonathan Diaz）表示。
新要求未达到特朗普的要求——他在3月签署的关于邮寄选票的行政令原本要求利用社会保障局或移民数据库建立全州选民公民名单，统一选票格式，并要求邮政局“与邮政局监察长办公室及司法部协调，调查涉嫌非法使用邮件处理联邦选举材料的行为”。
这些要求大多被包含在邮政局的最终规则中，但被大幅削弱，最终建立的系统将通过姓名和地址追踪合格选民，但基本不涉及公民身份问题。
美国邮政局表示：“不会将其他选民信息（如出生日期、社会保障号或其他选民登记详情）上传至该门户。邮政局不会在确定选民资格、维护选民名册或计票方面发挥任何作用。”
这项规则并非禁止邮寄选票，也没有包含总统要求的针对军人、残疾、疾病和旅行的豁免条款。
周一上午，在最高法院作出裁决前，特朗普政府已通知法院邮政局规则的最终确定，称该规则仅对希望使用美国邮政系统分发选票的州施加了“适度的信封设计要求”。
政府坚称，这些规则并未达到“限制”邮寄选票的程度，且排除了总统的许多要求。
“美国邮政局不会进行任何选民资格核实或类似工作，”司法部长约翰·索尔（John Sauer）告诉法院。邮政局“不会拒绝传送不在各州提供名单上的个人的选票”。
该规则确实指出，收集的数据“将有助于促进联邦法律的执行”。
美国邮政局表示：“这将为联邦执法部门提供一份名单，列出各州计划向其邮寄选票的个人（以及可能通过邮寄方式投票的人），以及相关的条形码数据。”
该规则的出台伴随着《拯救美国法案》（SAVE America Act）长达数月的僵局。该法案是共和党标志性的选举改革法案，要求投票时出示带照片的身份证件和公民身份证明。
总统在社交媒体上写道：“投票必须出示带照片的选民身份证、公民身份证明，并且将不再有欺诈、腐败和破坏稳定的邮寄选票（军人、残疾人、生病和旅行者除外）！《拯救美国法案》未能通过简直疯了，是对任何投反对票的政客的严重威胁！”
总统长期以来一直要求国会通过该法案，甚至呼吁终止参议院冗长辩论（filibuster）规则以使其更容易通过，尽管民主党人和部分共和党议员表示，这些规定将剥夺太多美国选民的投票权。白宫未立即回应置评请求。
阿拉斯加州共和党参议员莉萨·穆尔科斯基（Lisa Murkowski）在一份声明中表示：“阿拉斯加在实施真实身份（REAL ID）方面经历了20年的斗争，这表明执行联邦授权有多么困难，以及《拯救美国法案》在短期内得到有效实施的可能性微乎其微。”
她补充道：“自由和公平的选举是我们民主的基石。当选举的合法性受到质疑、公众信任受到侵蚀时，我们最好避免那些在纸面上听起来不错、但在现实世界中可能完全变样的党派改革。”
美国邮政局表示，已收到关于此次变更的“超过20万条评论”，并在周五的规则中承认了相关担忧。
邮政局称：“虽然邮政局承认在这一问题上存在分歧，但选民欺诈事件的发生率并不影响拟议规则的法律基础。这种增强的透明度将有助于识别原本未被发现的问题；至少，它将提供更大的保证，使任何潜在问题都能更有效地被识别和调查。”
美国邮政局表示，该规则将于8月26日正式公布。今年7月，美国一家上诉法院维持了地区法官的禁令，在诉讼进行期间暂缓对邮寄选票的任何更改。
Supreme Court allows Trump to implement parts of his mail-in voting executive order
The U．S． Supreme Court on Monday moved to allow President Donald Trump to implement key portions of his executive order on mail-in voting ahead of the November midterm election．
The decision， which was 6-3 with the court＇s liberal justices dissenting， will permit the Department of Homeland Security to compile a federal citizenship list and share it with states，allow the Attorney General to prioritize prosecution of state officials who may issue ballots to ineligible voters， and green-light U．S． Postal Service （USPS） rulemaking for state mail ballot designs．
The ruling did not address what is arguably the most controversial portion of the order： requiring the USPS to verify voting eligibility of each person receiving a mail ballot and withhold ballots from anyone not on a government list． That provision remains blocked in a different legal case．
The conservative majority in an unsigned per curiam opinionsaid the Democrat-led states that sued over the executive order have notyet been harmed by it， and that lower court judges exceeded their authority in blocking it from going forward． The opinion makes clear that it is not taking a position on the lawfulness of how Trump may ultimately choose to implement the order．
＂On that score， time will tell，＂ the court writes．
＂If the Postal Service＇s final rule harms the states，＂ the opinion says， ＂they may challenge that rule．＂
The immediate impact on the November midterm elections is not clear， though many legal experts said the decision was not on its own likely to result in significant changes for voters．
In dissent， Justice Sonia Sotomayor， joined by Justice Elena Kagan， said she believes the executive order already imposed potential harms on states and that the dispute should now be addressed on the merits．Writing separately in dissent， Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson accused her conservative colleagues of contributing to electoral confusion on the eve of voting．
The USPS on Friday published a finalized rule governing steps states must take to print ballots to be carried and tracked by mail carriers； no state has yet filed suit over the specific provisions of the rule．
The USPS＇new ruleadds verification requirements to all mail-in ballots， falling short of Trump＇s expectations but providing additional scrutiny． The Postal Service had said that the changes would go into effect immediately once the Supreme Court lifts aninjunctionimposed by a lower court．
Under the proposed change， states would be required to collect and report basic voter information， such as a voter＇s name and home address， attached to a unique barcode on every mail-in ballot distributed． Currently， there is no standardized requirement or method for states to track this information， instead letting each state independently decide how its mail-in voting system operates．
State election authorities would then be required to input this information into a ＂federal ballot mail portal＂ before the ballot is accepted into the mail stream．
The USPS said it would not deliver ballots to any state not in compliance with these changes．
The move comesafter months of attemptsby the Trump administration to collect voter information in the name of election integrity． Some experts are concerned that consolidation of that information into federal hands undermines the Constitution＇s system of state-run elections．
＂If the administration can determine who is American enough to register to vote， who can prove it sufficiently， then they would have a lot of power to shape the electorate，＂ said Jonathan Diaz， director of voting advocacy for the bipartisan nonprofit Campaign Legal Center．
The new requirements fall short of Trump＇s demands -- his Marchexecutive orderon mail-in ballots would have established statewide voter citizenship lists from Social Security or immigration databases， established uniform ballots， and had the USPS ＂coordinate with the USPS Office of Inspector General and the Department of Justice for investigation of suspected unlawful use of the mail involving Federal election materials．＂
Most of these demands are included but watered down in the USPS＇ final rule， ultimately creating a system that would track eligible voters by name and address， but keep citizenship largely out of it．
＂No other voter information， such as birthdate， Social Security number， or other voter registration details， will be uploaded to the Portal，＂ theUSPS said． ＂The Postal Service will not play any role in determining voter eligibility， maintaining voter rolls， or counting ballots．＂
This rule is not a mail-in ballot ban， nor does it include the military， disability， illness， and travel exceptions requested by the president．
On Monday morning， ahead of the Supreme Court＇s decision， the Trump administration had notified the court of the USPS rule finalization， saying it merely imposes ＂modest envelope design requirements＂ on states that wish to use U．S． mail to distribute ballots．
The government insisted that the rules fall short of ＂restricting＂ mail-in voting and leave out many of the president＇s demands．
＂USPS will not perform any verification of voter eligibility or the like，＂ Solicitor General John Sauer told the court． The USPS will ＂not refuse to transmit ballots from individuals who were not on the state-provided list．＂
An election worker sorts vote-by-mail ballots at the Miami-Dade County Supervisor of Elections Office for the Florida primary election in Doral， Fla．， Tuesday， Aug． 18， 2026．
Lynne Sladky／AP Photo
The rule does say data collected ＂will help to facilitate enforcement of federal law．＂
＂It will provide federal law enforcement with a list of individuals to whom states planned to mail a ballot （and who may potentially use the mail to vote）， along with the associated barcode data，＂ the USPS said．
The rule comes alongside months of gridlock for theSAVE America Act， the GOP＇s signature piece of election reform that would require photo ID and proof of citizenship to vote．
＂To Vote a person must show PHOTO VOTER I．D．， PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP， AND THAT THERE WILL BE NO MORE CROOKED， CORRUPT，＆DESTABILIZING MAIL-IN BALLOTS （EXCEPTIONS for Military， Disabled， Illness， and Travel！），＂ the president wrote on social media． ＂THE SAVE AMERICA ACT’S non-passage is CRAZY， and a serious threat to any politician who votes against it！＂
The president has long demanded the bill make it through Congress， even calling on the termination of the Senate filibuster to make it easier to pass， though Democrats and some Republican lawmakers say the rules would disenfranchise too many American voters． The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment．
＂Alaska’s 20-year struggle to implement REAL ID demonstrates just how incredibly difficult the enforcement of federal mandates can be and how unlikely it is that the SAVE America Act could be effectively implemented on an expedited basis，＂ Alaska RepublicanSen． Lisa Murkowski said ina statement．
＂Free and fair elections are the cornerstone of our democracy． As doubt is cast on their legitimacy and public trust erodes， we would do well to avoid partisan reforms that sound good on paper but may work very differently in the real world，＂ she added．
TheUSPS saidit received ＂more than 200，000 comments＂ on the change and recognized concerns in its rule Friday．
＂While the Postal Service acknowledges the range of disagreement on this point， the incidence of voter fraud does not impact the proposed rule’s legal grounding，＂ the USPS said． ＂Such enhanced visibility will help identify potential issues that would have otherwise gone undetected； at the very least， it will provide increased assurance that any potential issues are more capable of being effectively identified and investigated．＂
The USPS said the rule will be officially published on Aug． 26． A U．S． appeals court had upheld the district judge＇s injunction in July， keeping any changes to mail-in ballots on hold while litigation continues．
