While every state has to deal with the upcoming midterms, one New England battleground is hotter than the rest. Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey renewed her criticism of President Trump’s mail-in voting executive order in a post on X, calling it “an attack on Americans’ constitutional right to vote,” as the legal fight over the order escalated at the Supreme Court. The fight has become one of the most closely watched election-law battles of the 2026 midterm cycle, with mail ballots for the November election due out in just weeks and both sides doing whatever they can to protect the integrity of the election.
In a fiery post shared on her social media accounts and website, Massachusetts Governor Healey took aim at Trump and the GOP’s latest attempt to accelerate a ruling on mail-in voting before the critical midterm elections. This is what she stated.
Let’s call this what it is: it’s an attack on Americans’ constitutional right to vote. Vote-by-mail works. In Massachusetts, our elections are safe, secure, and accessible — and I’ll do everything in my power to make sure they stay that way.
Trump signed the executive order in March, directing the U.S. Postal Service to withhold ballots from voters not on federally compiled citizenship lists and threatening local election officials with criminal prosecution for noncompliance.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani ruled in June and again in July that the order was unconstitutional, finding the Constitution “reserves the power to determine voter eligibility to the States alone.” Her injunction currently blocks the order in 23 states and Washington, D.C., including Massachusetts. The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the administration’s request to pause that injunction Saturday. Her pointed statement caused a lot of Republican voices to voice their anger towards her and defend President Trump.
“Suddenly you care about voters? Where is the audit we voted for and approved ? Why are you so concerned about fair and secure elections when you won’t give us what we voted for? Hypocrite.”
“No. Actually we are just trying to make sure only legal citizens vote.”
But some local Dems took to defending her and her fight against Trump’s decisions. One said, “The only reason Trump is doing this is because he knows how effective it is when people are given enough opportunity and time to understand who and what they’re voting for. It hurts grifters like him who want less educated voters. Keep up the good work you do, Governor Healey!“
The Supreme Court has ordered states to respond to the Justice Department’s request by Aug. 3, the same date Talwani has set for a hearing on whether to expand her injunction nationwide.
