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In loss for Trump, U.S. Supreme Court won’t let Postal Service restrict mail ballots

admin — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 00:32:00 +0000

No other Justice dissented publicly. The U.S. Supreme Court has ⁠a 6-3 conservative majority. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday (September 14, 2026) to let the U.S. Postal Service enforce a rule targeting mail-in ballots, ‌dealing a setback to President Donald Trump’s effort to restrict voting by mail ahead of November’s midterm elections that will determine control of Congress.

The Justices denied the Justice Department’s request to lift a ruling ⁠by Boston-based U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani that blocked the Postal Service from enforcing the measure while legal challenges by states and voting-rights groups proceed. The agency adopted the measure after Trump issued a March executive order aimed at tightening rules governing mail voting.

“The government is unlikely ‌to succeed on the merits of its challenge to the District Court’s preliminary injunction,” the court said in its brief, one-paragraph order.

Justice Samuel Alito, joined by fellow conservative Justice Clarence Thomas, dissented from Monday’s decision, comparing some ‌of the challengers’ claims to a “Hail Mary pass” that is “unlikely to be successfully completed,” using a football analogy.

“The ‌Postal ⁠Service has broad authority to regulate the mail,” Justice Alito added.

No other Justice dissented publicly. The court has ⁠a 6-3 conservative majority.

Mr. Trump’s fellow Republicans are locked in a tight battle to retain control of Congress in the midterms. Restricting mail-in ballots would stand to benefit Republicans given that Democratic voters disproportionately use mail-in ballots, according to various surveys.

Another federal judge, Washington, D.C.-based U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, also ruled against the new rule on Sunday (September 13, 2026).

Under the new rule, States ‌would have to provide lists of mail ballot recipients to the Postal Service and use agency-approved outbound and return ballot mail envelopes outfitted with unique barcodes. The Postal Service could then refuse to send out ballots that do not comply with the new standards or are associated with voters who do not appear on the lists.

Critics have said the plan could ‌disrupt the delivery of thousands of legitimate ballots as the November 3 vote approaches and cause chaos given imminent plans by many states to send out mail ballots to eligible voters. The administration has said the new rule will prevent voter fraud, though evidence of such fraud is rare.

Mr. Trump signed his executive ⁠order targeting mail-in ballots after years of casting doubt on their security, though he often votes by mail himself. Trump has made false claims of widespread fraud in U.S. elections including his 2020 loss to former Democratic President Joe Biden.

The administration in a September ‌6 emergency request urged the Supreme Court to allow it to implement an “important federal policy to protect the mails from being used to commit voter fraud.”

States challenged the rule

A coalition of States, most of them Democratic-governed, and Washington, D.C., as well as a number of voting-rights groups, challenged the new USPS rule.

Judge Talwani imposed an injunction on September 4 blocking the rule, finding that it likely violated the U.S. Constitution, under which states administer elections. She also said it would be impossible for the States to comply given the rapidly approaching midterms.

The Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused last Thursday to put Judge Talwani’s order on hold. ‌The 1st Circuit said that the rule “will likely result in the disenfranchisement of millions of voters across the country while providing minimal — if any — gains in combating voter fraud.”

Judge Nichols granted a request from the Democratic Party and groups including the NAACP for a preliminary injunction blocking the rule. He wrote that the rule could make it harder for some people ⁠to vote by mail and that it exceeded the Postal Service’s authority.

“No statute grants the Postal Service the power to issue key ⁠parts of the rule,” Judge Nichols wrote.

All 50 States allow for some form of mail-in voting. Of those, 29 states allow voters to ask to cast ballots by mail without providing a reason, and eight conduct their ‌elections entirely by mail.

The battle over mail ballots is one in a series of efforts by the administration to boost federal involvement in voting ahead of the midterms. On August 24, the Supreme Court lifted an earlier injunction imposed by Judge Talwani in June blocking Mr. Trump’s executive order, including the USPS rule before it had been finalised.

Published – September 15, 2026 06:02 am IST

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U.S. Judge again blocks Postal Service’s mail-in voting restrictions

admin — Sat, 05 Sep 2026 02:13:00 +0000

A federal judge ‌on Friday (September 4, 2026) extended a ban stopping President Donald Trump’s administration from implementing a new U.S. Postal Service rule that would tighten mail-in voting requirements ahead of the November congressional elections.

Boston-based U.S. District Judge Indira ⁠Talwani issued the injunction at the behest of Democratic-led states and voting rights groups, after one state sent out mail ballots for the elections on Friday (September 4, 2026). Ms. Talwani wrote that only laws passed by Congress can supersede states’ authority over elections, adding “the executive has no inherent authority” ‌over voting rules.

Congress has never delegated authority over voting to the Postal Service, Ms. Talwani wrote, and the agency’s new rule “clashes with Congress’s statutory scheme, and is unconstitutional.”

The immediate deadlines demanded by the Postal Service’s rule ‌would create “chaos” for groups that provide information about how to vote, Ms. Talwani wrote. Organizations such as the League of ‌Women ⁠Voters “do not know whether to advise their members to vote by mail, despite legal entitlement, due ⁠to the high risk of disenfranchisement,” her ruling states.

The administration swiftly filed a notice of appeal.

The USPS declined to comment on the ruling, but U.S. Postmaster General David Steiner defended the agency’s handling of the issue.

“We have at all times acted within our legal authority to issue a rule to achieve those policies, but ultimately the courts will decide ‌that question, and we will follow the court’s determination,” M.r Steiner said on Friday.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Postal service rule follows Trump order

Under the rule, States must supply the USPS with lists of mail ballot recipients, and all outbound and return ballot envelopes must bear unique barcodes. The USPS, under ‌the rule, may refuse to deliver ballots that do not comply with the new standards or are associated with voters who do not appear on the lists.

Last week, Ms. Talwani, an appointee of Democratic President Barack Obama, issued a 14-day temporary restraining order to prevent USPS’ rule from being enforced while she considered whether ⁠to issue a longer-term injunction.

The administration on Thursday (September 3, 2026) asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene and lift the temporary order so the rule could take effect. The court’s 6-3 conservative majority last week lifted a prior order Ms. Talwani issued preventing USPS ‌from imposing such restrictions.

USPS issued its rule to implement an executive order Mr. Trump signed in March after years of the Republican president calling to restrict voting by mail and pushing the false claim that his 2020 presidential election defeat to Democrat Joe Biden was the result of widespread voter fraud.

All 50 States allow for some form of mail-in voting. Of those, 29 States allow voters to ask to cast ballots by mail without providing a reason, and eight conduct their elections entirely by mail. North Carolina on Friday (September 4, 2026) became the first state to mail ballots for the November elections.

The rule, if allowed to ‌take effect, could force state election officials to try to overhaul their systems with just weeks left until the elections to comply with a system that critics say USPS is not ready to implement.

Ms. Talwani said it was “implausible” that States would be able to comply with the rule for this year’s looming elections, as it would require 10,000 election ⁠jurisdictions to redesign their ballots, print them and submit voter information to a USPS-run online portal that does not yet exist.

“Having considered ⁠this series of hurdles for officials against the backdrop of an impending election, and mindful of the fact that any minor malfunction will result in the denial of mail ballots, the court concludes that disenfranchisement for Plaintiff ‌Organizations’ members, regardless of residence, is practically inevitable,” she wrote, referring to the voting rights groups.

The administration had asked a federal appeals court to set aside Ms. Talwani’s initial restraining order. But the Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had not acted on that request before the judge issued her latest decision.

Published – September 05, 2026 07:42 am IST

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