By Brittany Sheehan / Nevada News and Views
A federal judge handed a significant win to election integrity supporters this week. On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols refused to block President Trump’s executive order tightening the rules around mail-in voting, allowing the order to remain in place while legal challenges proceed.
Trump signed Executive Order 14399, titled “Ensuring Citizenship Verification and Integrity in Federal Elections,” on March 31, 2026. The order directs the Department of Homeland Security to compile verified lists of U.S. citizens eligible to vote in each state and requires the U.S. Postal Service to send mail-in ballots only to voters on those lists.
Judge Nichols did not rule on the constitutionality of the order. He ruled on a more immediate question: whether the challengers had suffered any actual harm. Finding that no agency had yet acted under the order in a way that could harm the plaintiffs, he declined to block it. You cannot ask a court to stop something before it has happened.
Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford and Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar joined a multi-state coalition suing the Trump administration over the executive order, calling it unlawful and unconstitutional. Ford, who is running for governor, called the order an attack on Nevadans’ constitutional rights. Aguilar declared Nevada would lead the legal challenge because the order impacts Nevada more than any other state — a notable claim given that Nevada is one of eight states that automatically mails ballots to all registered voters without requiring a request.
Not everyone in Nevada shares that alarm. Nevada GOP Chairman Michael J. McDonald argued that strengthening verification and improving mail-in ballot security are critical to preserving confidence in Nevada’s elections.
Governor Lombardo did not take sides in the lawsuit. His office stated that the Governor believes elections should be run by the states and supports common sense reforms to Nevada law that strengthen election integrity.
The ruling matters in Nevada for a specific reason. In the 2024 general election, 45 percent of votes in the state were cast by mail. With nearly half of all ballots arriving through the mail system, the accuracy of voter rolls is not an abstract policy question. It is a practical one.
Nevada voters already signaled where they stand. The Voter ID ballot measure passed with 73 percent of the vote in 2024. This November, Question 7 returns to the ballot. If passed again, a government-issued photo ID requirement for in-person voting and the last four digits of a Social Security number or driver’s license for mail-in voting would be enshrined in the Nevada Constitution. Eligible forms of ID include a driver’s license, passport, student ID, or concealed carry permit.
The legal fight over the executive order is not over. The underlying lawsuit remains pending before Judge Nichols, and a separate challenge is moving through federal court in Boston. Further appeals are expected.
Source: Nevada News and Views, May 29, 2026. Written by Brittany Sheehan.