SPRINGFIELD, IL — A U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing the Trump administration's mail-voting order to move forward does not immediately change how Illinois voters cast absentee ballots.
But that could change as Illinois election officials prepare to mail ballots for the important Nov. 3 midterm elections.
The ruling prompted a sharp response Tuesday from Gov. JB Pritzker, who said the decision allowing President Donald Trump and the U.S. Postal Service to move forward was "deeply troubling" and accused the president of trying to "rewrite the rules" weeks before the midterms.
"Illinois will continue to administer free and fair elections in our state while fighting every attack on voters' rights," Pritzker said Tuesday.
RELATED: Pritzker Blasts Supreme Court Ruling On Trump's Mail-In Voting Order
Now, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul has joined a coalition of 25 states in filing a new lawsuit challenging the Postal Service rule that grew out of Trump's executive order.
Raoul's office announced the lawsuit Wednesday, arguing the USPS rule could disenfranchise eligible voters and interfere with states' administration of their mail-voting programs. The coalition is asking a federal court to block the rule from taking effect while the case proceeds.
"The right to vote is our most fundamental right, and it should not matter whether ballots are submitted early, sent by mail or cast on Election Day," Raoul said.
"The rule I am challenging today is yet another unlawful attempt by the Trump administration to control state voting systems," Raoul said. "We are asking the court for emergency relief because the administration is trying to undermine our citizens' access to voting within weeks of the midterm elections."
Raoul said the Constitution gives states — not the executive branch — authority to administer elections.
"I will not let the president sow chaos into the upcoming general election," he said.
The Supreme Court on Monday lifted an order that had blocked parts of Trump's March executive order governing mail and absentee voting. The justices did not decide whether the president has the constitutional authority to impose the changes.
Instead, the court concluded that the 23 states challenging the order argued that Trump's order intruded on states' authority to administer elections and on Congress' power under the Constitution to make or change rules governing the "times, places and manner" of federal elections.
The court said the states, which included Illinois, sued too soon and had not shown the kind of concrete, imminent harm necessary to bring their claims when the lawsuit was filed.
RELATED: Supreme Court Clears Way For Trump Mail Voting Order In Advance Of Midterms
The Supreme Court ruling covered several parts of Trump's election order, but the piece most relevant to mail voting involved the Postal Service.
When the states sued, Trump had only directed the USPS to develop new rules for mailed ballots. The Postal Service finalized a rule requiring election offices to use approved, trackable envelopes for federal ballots and submit ballot-mailing information through a federal portal, but a separate federal court injunction currently prevents USPS from implementing those changes for the 2026 election.
The Trump administration is seeking to have that order lifted, and additional litigation is expected.
If the rule takes effect, state and local election offices would have to comply with the new envelope, barcode and reporting requirements. Voters would not have to sign up with USPS, and the Postal Service would not decide who is eligible to vote.
Raoul's office said Wednesday that the rule requires states to register every voter eligible to vote by mail with the Postal Service, which would then compile state-specific lists. It also establishes new design standards for states' mail-ballot envelopes and requires Postal Service approval.
Under the rule, according to Raoul's office, USPS would not deliver ballots to voters who do not appear on those lists or deliver ballots in envelopes that fail to meet the new standards.
The reporting requirement is likely to draw particular scrutiny because the Trump administration is already collecting statewide voter-registration data through a separate Justice Department effort. The states that have fully complied so far are Republican-led. Iowa, for example, turned over its voter file in May, including sensitive identifying information.
A federal judge dismissed a Justice Department lawsuit, allowing Illinois to reject demands for unredacted voter data containing sensitive personal information. According to the ACLU, the ruling deemed that federal law does not grant authority to force the state to surrender its complete, unredacted voter database.
The USPS rule would require a different disclosure: information identifying voters being sent mail ballots and the barcodes associated with those ballots.
The practical concern is that USPS could reject batches of ballots that do not meet the new requirements, forcing election officials to correct and resend them — a potentially significant problem as ballot-mailing dates approach.
That provision could become increasingly important as ballot-mailing dates approach.
Raoul and the other states argue election officials could be forced within weeks to redesign ballot envelopes, obtain Postal Service approval, develop systems for transmitting mail-voter information, train election workers and educate voters about the changes.
Even if states meet those requirements, Raoul's office said administrative errors or problems with the new procedures could prevent eligible voters from receiving ballots.
In the 2024 general election, nearly 1 million Illinois voters cast their ballots by mail, according to the attorney general's office.
Illinois election authorities are scheduled to begin mailing regular vote-by-mail ballots on Sept. 24, according to the Illinois State Board of Elections. Any registered Illinois voter may apply for a vote-by-mail ballot, and applications for the Nov. 3 election have been accepted since Aug. 5. Illinois also allows qualified voters to apply for permanent vote-by-mail status.
Capitol News Illinois is reporting the Illinois State Board of Elections is reviewing the impact of new USPS requirements, with officials warning of significant administrative burdens and potential, though currently manageable, logistical hurdles for local election authorities. Guidance for voters centers on early submission of ballots, using drop boxes, and requesting manual postmarks to bypass potential mail delays.
The lawsuit announced Wednesday is significant because it challenges actions the Postal Service has taken since the states filed the earlier case that reached the Supreme Court.
Raoul and the coalition argue the USPS rule violates the Constitution, conflicts with statutes governing the Postal Service, violates the Privacy Act and is inconsistent with federal voting-rights law.
They are asking the court to strike down the rule and issue a temporary restraining order preventing it from taking effect while litigation proceeds.
The lawsuit was co-led by the attorneys general of California, Massachusetts, Nevada and Washington. Joining them and Illinois are the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin, along with the governor of Pennsylvania.
Importantly, the Supreme Court's ruling does not uphold Trump's mail-voting policies as constitutional.
The court's conservative majority instead focused on whether the states had standing to challenge the executive order when they filed their lawsuit.
The court said the executive order itself largely directed federal officials to take future actions and did not require states to do anything.
At the time the lawsuit was filed, the Postal Service had not adopted its final rule, so the majority said predictions about how the federal government would ultimately implement the order — and how states would be affected — were too speculative.
That leaves open the possibility of new challenges based on actions federal agencies have taken since then.
Wednesday's lawsuit is one such challenge, targeting the Postal Service's finalized rule rather than only Trump's earlier directive that the agency develop one.
The timing could make those fights significant. The first ballots for military and overseas voters are scheduled to begin going out in early September, followed by absentee and mail ballots for other voters under individual state deadlines.
For now, voters should continue following Illinois' existing instructions for requesting and returning mail ballots unless state or local election officials announce a change.
Illinois voters can request a vote-by-mail ballot either by mail or in person through their local election authority.
The first day to file an application for a vote-by-mail ballot was Aug. 5. Requests submitted by mail must be received by the local election authority by Sept. 24.
Early voting will remain available in person through Nov. 2.
Separate rules and deadlines apply to military and overseas voters.
Voters should check with the Illinois State Board of Elections or their local election office for the latest instructions because the federal court fight remains unresolved.
The Postal Service separately recommends that voters allow enough time for both delivery of the ballot to the voter and its return to the election office and follow deadlines and instructions established by their state.
Pritzker's comments Tuesday made Illinois one of the states publicly pushing back against the court's decision as the legal fight continues.
"The Supreme Court's decision allowing Donald Trump and the U.S. Postal Service to move forward with this unprecedented attempt to interfere in our elections is deeply troubling," Pritzker said.
"We are weeks away from voting in the midterms and the President is trying to put fear in Americans about the security of our elections, rewrite the rules, and put the federal government between voters and their ballots," he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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