Pennsylvania has joined the second round of a court fight against President Donald Trump's attempts to overhaul mail-in ballot procedures, with Gov. Josh Shapiro signing onto another multistate lawsuit and its Department of State pressuring federal officials to substantiate claims about the number of noncitizens on voter rules.
"I'm suing the Trump Administration to stop their unconstitutional attempt to change the rules and restrict mail-in voting," Shapiro announced Wednesday in a mid-afternoon social media post. He noted that he had taken the administration to court before "to protect Pennsylvania's free, fair, safe, and secure elections. I'm prepared to do so again."
That lawsuit joins Shapiro with attorneys general from more than 20 other states to combat Trump's latest attempt to challenge the conduct of elections. This case involves Trump's attempt to use the U.S. Postal Service to demand changes to mail-in voting on the eve of the 2026 midterm elections, by requiring states to furnish voter lists to the post office before it will handle mail-in ballots. The rule also requires that the envelopes themselves meet standards the post office set out just days ago.
Such requirements "will frustrate or outright prevent Plaintiff States from administering their mail voting programs in November and foreseeably disenfranchise voters who vote by mail," the suit asserts. "Indeed, this seems to be what the President prefers."
Trump and other Republicans have long questioned the legitimacy of mail-in ballots in particular, though in some states, the ballots are widely used by Republicans, including Trump himself in Florida.
It's the second time the states have sought to challenge the rules in court: Their first effort was scratched this week by the U.S. Supreme Court, which found that a lower court had jumped the gun by freezing the post office requirements before they were issued. While not ruling on the merits of the policy, the court's move merely lifted that freeze. (A similar pause granted in a separate lawsuit, this one filed by advocacy groups, was lifted Wednesday in light of the Supreme Court ruling.)
In fact, by the time of the Supreme Court's action, the Postal Service had already posted its rules on Aug. 21. That prompted Wednesday's nearly 50-page complaint, in which states reprise earlier objections to the policy.
"Whether a qualified voter may vote by mail is a question of state law, as is the question of whether a ballot will be accepted," the new complaint argues. "The Constitution is clear that States have the primary responsibility for regulating and administering elections, subject only to preemption by Congress — authority that expressly extends to the 'manner' of elections. Congress has not afforded USPS any authority whatsoever to set rules for federal elections or mail voting, even though Americans have cast ballots by mail for generations."
The states also argue the policy would cause serious disruptions to the midterm elections by requiring adherence to rules issued less than three months before the Nov. 3 election itself. The suit, for example, notes that the new policy sets mandatory standards for ballot envelopes — a requirement that comes after some states have already purchased envelopes for use.
The suit seeks to have the requirements deemed a violation of the Voting Rights Act and other legal protections. It asks the court to prevent the government from implementing it.
Meanwhile Pennsylvania's top election official, Secretary of State Al Schmidt, sent a letter pressing U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to back up unproven claims about the number of noncitizens on the state's voter rolls.
In mid-July, Mullin sent a letter to state officials asserting that there were potentially as many as 14,576 noncitizens on state voter lists. Pennsylvania cast doubt on the claim and asked about the methodology behind it, and Schmidt's August 26 letter indicates that state officials are still waiting for answers.
During an Aug. 13 meeting between representatives of the Department of State and Homeland Security, federal "representatives explained that they did not have high confidence that the 14,576 individuals referenced in your letter were, in fact, non-citizens who had improperly registered to vote," the letter says. The state was still awaiting an explanation about the data sources used by DHS to make its assertion, according to the letter.
"The right to vote is sacred, and the cancellation of any voter registration record must be based on reliable data sources," the letter concludes.
The letter echoes previous reporting by NPR, which found that federal officials have been so far unable to flesh out their claims about noncitizen voters in other states. In Nevada, for example, DHS originally said upwards of 16,000 potential noncitizens were listed as voters. But DHS later acknowledged that the number was a ceiling, and it turned over 185 voter records it said were likely noncitizens. (Other records needed more review, the agency said.) When Nevada officials asked for more information on those voters and the data used to identify them as noncitizens, NPR reported, "DHS declined to provide that."
But for all of the controversy and tumult, Shapiro stressed on social media that "Nothing about voting by mail has changed here in Pennsylvania. You can still vote safely and securely by mail."
Read more from our partner, WESA.
Copyright 2026 90.5 WESA