SALEM, Ore. -- In a narrow ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court concluded Monday that lawsuits against President Trump’s most recent elections executive order are premature— but it did not foreclose legal challenges if the U.S. interferes with mail voting.

Attorney General Dan Rayfield, who has a track record of challenging Trump’s attempts to interfere with Oregon elections in court, vowed to remain vigilant and to take immediate action if the USPS or any other federal agency unlawfully takes steps to interfere with mail voting. He made the comment in a news release that continues in full below, along with comments from Deschutes County Clerk Steve Dennison.

“The right to vote is sacred, and Oregonians know that voting by mail is safe, secure, and accurate,” Rayfield said. “We’re not going to let Donald Trump interfere in our elections — and we’re certainly not going to let him decide who gets a ballot and who doesn’t. Today’s court decision is a temporary setback, nothing more. This fight is far from over.”

“The bottom line is: Oregon’s elections are secure, accurate, and fair,” Secretary of State Tobias Read said. “They will proceed as planned this November, free from any illegal federal interference. We will stand up for Oregonians’ right to vote and run elections. We will continue to challenge this over-reaching executive order in court with the Attorney General when the time is right.”

“Elections have always been, and always should be, up to the states,” Governor Tina Kotek said. “President Trump’s directive to the United States Postal Service is unconstitutional and an assault on our democracy and designed to silence voters. Oregon has been conducting elections by mail-in voting safely and securely for decades. My message to the President is clear: keep your hands off our elections.”

For now, the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed the Postal Service to continue an ongoing rulemaking process, as directed by Trump’s executive order. The court emphasized that Monday’s ruling is procedural in nature, and that it was not ruling on the lawfulness of efforts by federal agencies to implement the executive order.

Background

On March 31, 2026, President Trump issued an Executive Order on elections, requiring the Department of Homeland Security to create lists of eligible voters in each state, directing the states to submit lists of eligible voters to USPS, and for USPS to refuse to deliver ballots to anyone not on those lists. The order would also require states to redesign and reprint mail-in ballot envelopes, mere weeks before the 2026 midterm elections begin—creating enormous chaos and confusion for voters.

A coalition of 24 states sued to block Trump’s order from being implemented, and won a ruling from a federal district court in Boston blocking Trump from implementing the order for the November 2026 election. Recently, Trump asked the US Supreme Court to block that order, allowing implementation of his executive order while appeals are pending. The Supreme Court granted that request.

What’s Next

Monday’s decision by the Supreme Court is a temporary setback. At this point, the plaintiff states have not submitted voter lists to the federal government. USPS issued rules pertaining to mail ballots last Friday, but those rules have not yet been published in the Federal Register.

Should USPS unlawfully attempt to interfere with Oregon’s vote-by-mail process, AG Rayfield will immediately sue to stop that threat. As he has done repeatedly in the last year, AG Rayfield will continue defending Oregon’s election system against unlawful federal interference.

Deschutes County Clerk Steve Dennison pointed out Monday that the legal challenges are happening at the state, not county level, but pointed to the tight timeline for the Nov. 3 mid-term election.

"We're 71 days until Election Day, and we're mailing ballots to military and overseas on Sept. 19. That's less than a month away," Dennison told the Bugle.

"Everything's been finalized, our envelopes have been ordered, and the systems they (the administration) are describing do not exist yet," the county clerk said.

"Nothing has necessarily changed as of this moment," Dennison said. "We will continue administering elections under Oregon law and with direction from the Oregon secretary of state. Any federal implementation action or request will be reviewed with county counsel and state elections officials before operational changes are made."

Ballots are scheduled to be mailed to out-of-state voters on Oct. 5 and to the rest of county voters on Oct. 14, the day after this year's voter registration deadline.

"We'll be sending 165,000 ballots in the next few weeks," Dennison said. More information on the deadlines, candidates and measures can be found on the county's Nov. 3 election page.

More information on Monday's court ruling can be found in this article and this article, both provided by the Oregon Capital Chronicle.