In a roller coaster week for the Trump administration’s rule on mail-in ballots, the same federal judge reversed by the Supreme Court imposed a 14-day temporary restraining order on the U.S. Postal Service.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston ruled Thursday night that states can’t comply with the new rules this close to an election.
Talwani, an appointee of President Barack Obama, ruled in favor of 23 blue states and the District of Columbia that sued over the mail-in voting policy in the same case that the Supreme Court decided on Monday lacked standing.
But the high court’s ruling focused on standing rather than the merits of President Donald Trump’s election-integrity executive order from March. It also came before the Postal Service published the final rule in the Federal Register on Wednesday.
The high court found the states lacked standing in part because their harm claims were too speculative. Talwani determined that with “final rules, not proposed rules,” the matter could be decided upon.
“USPS’s interest in correcting an unsubstantiated problem through likely unconstitutional means is dwarfed by the overwhelming risk of pervasive disenfranchisement of citizens who need access to mail ballots in order to vote,” the judge’s opinion says.
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“Based on the record presently before the court, 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,” Talwani’s opinion said.
The judge will consider a longer injunction after a Sept. 3 hearing.
The matter is likely headed back to the Supreme Court, which could decide on the merits of the USPS rule that emerged from Trump’s executive order, as well as the executive order as a whole.
Talwani determined that states could likely demonstrate that the Postal Service exceeded its authority.
The Postal Service rule would require election officials to submit a list of legally eligible voters and to use unique barcodes before mailing out the ballots.
The two-week temporary restraining order prevents the Postal Service from mandating compliance ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta was the lead plaintiff in the 23-state lawsuit.
“On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an order on the emergency docket stating we brought our lawsuit too early but did not address the merits of our challenge to the President’s executive order seeking to impose additional, unlawful restrictions on the ability to vote by mail. Just two days later, consistent with that order, we sued to stop the illegal USPS rule in its tracks,” Bonta said in a statement. “Today, the district court blocked the rule, making it clear that President Trump must keep his hands off our elections. The right to vote is a foundational principle of our democracy, and we’re making sure it remains protected for everyone.”
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