Less than half of Republican attorneys general sign on to defend Trump’s anti-mail voting order in court

President Donald Trump’s attack on mail voting is reaching a crucial stage in the courts, but he’s only received backup from less than half of the Republican state attorneys general.

Their silence is notable given that they’ve joined other Trump administration priorities. All 27 Republican attorneys general, for example, previously signed onto amicus briefs to keep transgender athletes out of girls’ sports and to defend the administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged migrant gang members without due process.

Over the weekend, the attorneys general from Alabama, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota and Texas filed their opposition to a request from blue states and voting rights groups for a preliminary injunction against Trump’s order and the U.S. Postal Service rule to implement it before November’s midterm elections.

In the filing, the GOP attorneys general, like the Department of Justice, downplayed the order’s impact. They said the new requirements, which could result in the USPS refusing to deliver certain mail ballots, were only “modest mailing conditions that increase the security of mail-in voting.”

Missing from the action are the other 15 Republican state attorneys general representing Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming. 

Democracy Docket reached out to each of their offices to ask why they haven’t joined the legal fight. Utah and Tennessee declined to comment. The other 13 did not respond to emailed requests for comment.

Democratic attorneys general have unanimously banded together to challenge Trump’s order and the USPS rule in court, calling it blatantly unconstitutional and disruptive to mail voting programs used by 47 million Americans in 2024.

In a new lawsuit last week, those 24 attorneys general and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) argued the USPS rule, if not halted, “will frustrate or outright prevent Plaintiff States from administering their mail voting programs in November and foreseeably disenfranchise voters who vote by mail.”

A federal judge in Massachusetts, U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani, issued a 14-day temporary restraining order. Talwani will hear arguments on the preliminary injunction request from the Democratic attorneys general and voting rights groups this Thursday, Sept. 3.