Appeals court blocks Trump's mail-in voting restriction order

The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has refused to lift an injunction blocking a Trump executive order that sought to restrict mail-in voting nationwide, including stricter deadlines and identification rules for absentee ballots that could have reshaped how millions of Americans cast their votes.

The injunction had been won earlier by several Democratic-led states from a lower-court judge, who found that the order likely exceeded the president's constitutional authority over elections, which are largely administered by individual states. With the appeals court's refusal to lift that injunction, the current mail-in voting rules remain in place for the time being, and states can continue preparing for upcoming elections under existing procedures.

The White House is expected to consider appealing the ruling further to the Supreme Court. The case tests how far a president can go in altering state-run election procedures, and voting-rights groups have welcomed the ruling as a win for ballot access, while legal analysts say the dispute could ultimately set a lasting precedent for presidential power over elections.