Six to three. That was the margin on Thursday when the United States Supreme Court sided with Donald Trump, lifting an injunction that a Massachusetts federal judge had imposed on the president's executive order restricting mail-in voting. The justices voted strictly along ideological lines — the six conservative members for, the three liberal members against. A second injunction, however, remains in place, and legal challenges are still possible, leaving it uncertain whether the administration can act before November's midterm elections.

Trump's order, issued in March, directed the federal government to build a "state citizenship list" of eligible voters and to deliver mail-in ballots only to people whose names appear on it. He also instructed the Justice Department to prioritise the investigation and prosecution of state and local election officials who send ballots to anyone deemed ineligible. The president has long claimed, without credible evidence, that voting by mail is equivalent to cheating — a position he has held even as he himself has cast ballots by post. The dissent from Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was sharp.

She wrote that the majority's decision "needlessly injects chaos and uncertainty into the upcoming midterm elections." Rights groups echoed that alarm. Derrick Johnson, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, warned that the ruling was proof that democracy requires constant defence. "They are trying to do everything they possibly can to make it difficult for you to vote," he said.

The ruling lands against a backdrop of fresh trade friction: Trump separately announced a 50% tariff on Canadian automobiles and steel, drawing a pledge from Ottawa to retaliate dollar for dollar.