(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge on Thursday night blocked the Trump administration from implementing key provisions of a new rule restricting mail-in voting.
U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani issued a temporary order preventing the United States Postal Service from increasing its oversight of mail-in voting, following an executive order from President Donald Trump that would effectively employ the Postal Service as the primary enforcer of mail-voter eligibility.
Talwani blocked the newly finalized rule for at least 14 days.
The same judge had previously blocked Trump’s executive order but lifted that decision on Wednesday after the Supreme Court ruled Monday she had initially acted too quickly.
With the judge’s latest order, it is likely the legal battle over the USPS rules will eventually make its way back to the Supreme Court.
Dozens of Democratic state attorneys general sued the Trump administration over the USPS directive in April, arguing it is unconstitutional since states — not the federal government — have primary authority for administering elections.
The Supreme Court in a 6-3 decision ruled Monday that the states lacked standing to challenge Trump’s order at that stage since nothing had formally impacted how they will administer elections, but the high court did not weigh in on the legality of Trump’s order.
The judge’s order Thursday comes after state attorneys general brought a new challenge after USPS published a finalized rule governing steps states must take to print ballots to be carried and tracked by mail carriers.
In her order Thursday pausing the now finalized USPS plan, the judge wrote: “Plaintiff States face irreparable harm where they are required to comply with a likely unconstitutional regulation for which compliance is practically impossible as to the 2026 midterm elections, now little more than two months away,” she wrote.
The new rules finalized by the USPS last week add verification requirements to all mail-in ballots, falling short of Trump’s expectations but providing additional scrutiny.
Under the proposed change, states would be required to collect and report basic voter information, such as a voter’s name and home address, attached to a unique barcode on every mail-in ballot distributed. Currently, there is no standardized requirement or method for states to track this information, instead letting each state independently decide how its mail-in voting system operates.
State election authorities would then be required to input this information into a “federal ballot mail portal” before the ballot is accepted into the mail stream.
The USPS said it would not deliver ballots to any state not in compliance with these changes.
In a statement Thursday night, New York Attorney General Letitia James said: “This rule is a clear attempt by the federal government to interfere in elections it has no power to control. Today, a federal court halted it before this administration could wreak havoc on our elections. The USPS does not have the authority to decide who can and cannot vote by mail. My office will keep fighting to ensure this rule cannot disrupt our midterm elections.”
Trump issued an executive order in March seeking to restrict mail-in voting, directing the Department of Homeland Security to build a federal citizenship list and give it to the states; the Department of Justice to target state officials who give ballots to noncitizens; and the USPS to direct states to abide by certain mail-ballot design and tracking requirements.
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