A federal appeals court upheld a ruling that halted President Donald Trump's executive order seeking to create a federal list of eligible voters, which would have then been used to restrict delivery of mail ballots only to those on the list. 

The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the Trump administration's effort to move forward with the mail-in voter restrictions in 23 states, which have sued to stop the order, the Associated Press reported. 

Trump said his order would have created safeguards to keep non-citizens from voting, but state election officials argued the list would be abused and cause chaos. 

The lawsuit the states filed argued that the order was unconstitutional because the states and Congress have the authority to set election rules. The Trump administration, the lawsuit argued, exceeded its authority with the order.