Trump Administration Escalates Election Actions Ahead of Midterms: Mail Ballot Rules, Subpoenas, Citizenship Lists

In early September 2026, the Trump administration took multiple actions related to voting ahead of the midterm elections. On September 3-4, the Department of Justice asked the Supreme Court to overturn a federal judge's order blocking a new rule governing how mail-in ballots are processed, a rule tied to a Postal Service computer system whose operational status the administration could not confirm to the judge. Separately, the administration issued subpoenas for voter data in Nevada and continued an effort to compile lists of adult citizens eligible to vote in each state, a project it will not complete by its own internally set deadline of 60 days before Election Day. The DOJ's Supreme Court appeal came shortly before a federal judge was expected to rule on whether to issue an injunction against the mail-ballot rule, which dictates procedures for sending and processing mail-in ballots. Election officials in multiple states raised concerns that compliance would be logistically difficult; one California official estimated that scanning individual ballots statewide under the new requirements would take roughly 43 years based on Postal Service estimates. The Nevada subpoenas for voter data were reported as part of a broader administration effort described by at least one outlet as connected to President Trump's claims of widespread voter fraud, though the specific evidentiary basis for the subpoenas was not detailed in available reporting. As of early September 2026, the Supreme Court had not yet ruled on the administration's request to lift the lower court's block on the mail-ballot rule, and the underlying federal judge's injunction decision status was not confirmed in the available reporting. The citizenship-list initiative remains ongoing but behind the administration's own 60-day pre-election target, with the reasons for the delay and the project's ultimate completion timeline unresolved. It also remains unclear how the Nevada subpoenas, the mail-ballot rule litigation, and the citizenship-list effort are formally coordinated, if at all, and what legal or logistical outcomes will result before the midterms.