The Supreme Court is rejecting a Republican-led attack on state laws that allow the counting of late-arriving mail ballots, a target of President Donald Trump. Monday's 5-4 decision leaves in place laws in more than half the states and the District of Columbia that permit mailed ballots to arrive and be counted days after an election, provided they're postmarked by Election Day. The outcome spares officials the headache of changing ballot rules just months before the 2026 midterm congressional elections. The legal challenge was part of the Republican president's broader attack on most mail balloting, which he says breeds fraud despite strong evidence to the contrary and years of experience in numerous states.

A federal judge has permanently barred President Donald Trump's administration from implementing most of his first executive order on elections. Trump's order included provisions that would have required people to show documentary proof of citizenship in order to register to vote. It also would have prevented mail ballots from counting if they're received after Election Day. The ruling on Wednesday effectively makes permanent a preliminary order that the Boston-based judge issued a year ago. The judge agreed with arguments from Democratic attorneys general that the Constitution gives states and Congress, not the president, the power to regulate elections.