Judge clears Trump mail-voting order

A federal judge lifted the last injunction blocking Trump's mail-voting order as new lawsuits surge.

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on Monday to lift a nationwide injunction that had blocked President Donald Trump's March executive order restricting mail voting. On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston lifted the second remaining injunction — from a case brought by the League of Women Voters — concluding that the Supreme Court's decision required her to reconsider it. With both injunctions gone, no court order currently prevents the U.S. Postal Service from applying its new mail-ballot requirements to the November election.

The Supreme Court's unsigned majority opinion did not address whether Trump's executive order is lawful, instead ruling that the states' legal challenge was premature because the USPS had not yet finalized its implementing regulations. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented, writing that the order "needlessly injects chaos and uncertainty into the upcoming midterm elections." According to The Nation, the ruling also ignores the Purcell Principle, a Supreme Court precedent holding that election procedures should not be changed too close to an election. Judge Talwani noted that the challengers have "substantial arguments that might persuade the Supreme Court to reach a different result" if given the opportunity.

The USPS published its final 95-page rule in the Federal Register on Wednesday. According to CNBC, the rule requires states to submit each mail voter's name and address to a new USPS portal, along with unique Intelligent Mail barcodes assigned to ballot envelopes. Election officials must also submit outgoing and return ballot-envelope designs to USPS for review. Postal employees would scan envelopes before accepting them, and mailings failing verification would be returned to election officials to correct and resubmit. According to CNBC, USPS says the rule would improve ballot tracking and reduce fraud risk without comparing portal data against state voter rolls.

About 30% of voters cast ballots by mail in 2024, according to the states challenging the policy as reported by CNBC. A Pew Research Center survey cited by CNBC found that 44% of Democratic voters said they voted by mail or absentee, compared with 26% of Republican voters. The November midterm election is less than 10 weeks away, and ballot mailings are set to begin as early as September 4 in North Carolina. According to WPR, Wisconsin officials must mail military and overseas ballots by September 19 under federal law, and ballots are already being designed and printed.

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold said "nothing has changed" because further litigation is expected, and she believes it may be too late for the executive order to take effect before ballots go out. According to PBS, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said the Constitution "plainly gives states, not the executive branch, the power to administer elections." CNBC reports that California Governor Gavin Newsom posted that Trump "does not run elections. States do." The Cook County Clerk's office urged voters to return mail ballots early, citing confusion over the back-and-forth court rulings, according to PBS.

Twenty-three states, Washington D.C., and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro filed a new lawsuit Wednesday challenging the finalized USPS rule, marking the third legal challenge targeting it. According to KOKH, Washington Attorney General Nick Brown and Secretary of State Steve Hobbs announced a lawsuit joined by 25 Democratic-led states. Voting-rights groups amended their complaint and asked Judge Talwani to immediately block the rule; according to NBC News, she asked the federal government to respond by noon Thursday, meaning a decision could come soon. The new lawsuits do not themselves block the rule, but challengers can seek new injunctions.