North Carolina opens 2026 midterms with first absentee ballot mailing
The Trump administration on Friday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to lift a federal judge’s temporary restraining order that has been blocking the U.S. Postal Service from implementing the administration’s plan to restrict mail-in ballot delivery, according to NPR. The underlying order stems from an executive order President Trump signed in March.
That executive order directs the Department of Homeland Security to compile lists of adult U.S. citizens state by state, NPR reported, and instructs the Postal Service to refuse to deliver mail-in ballots whenever state election officials decline to hand over those lists.
Last week, the Supreme Court addressed a procedural question in one of the lawsuits challenging the order, according to NPR. The administration’s new filing asks the justices to take up the underlying legality of the executive order.
North Carolina’s State Board of Elections began mailing absentee ballots Friday, NPR reported, officially opening the 2026 midterm voting season. The Supreme Court appeal arrives with the temporary restraining order still in effect, leaving the legal fate of the executive order unresolved as North Carolina voters begin receiving ballots and other states prepare to follow.