Federal Court Blocks Trump Mail Ballot Restrictions for Second Time Before Midterm Elections

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani issued a 14-day temporary restraining order Thursday blocking the implementation of a new Postal Service regulation tied to President Donald Trump’s executive order on mail-in voting. The decision marks the second time the courts have stopped enforcement of the directive, arriving just over a week before mail ballots are scheduled to begin going out for the midterm elections.

The judge’s action follows a recent Supreme Court decision that allowed the administration to proceed but did not address whether Trump’s order was legally sound. Democrats and voting rights groups subsequently refiled their lawsuits after the high court overturned an earlier injunction, prompting the administration to formalize its mail ballot rules through the Postal Service.

Talwani emphasized the practical obstacles facing state election officials in her ruling, noting that states lack sufficient time and resources to redesign ballots, secure approvals, manufacture new materials, reprogram election systems, train personnel on the Postal Service portal, and upload voter information before November’s midterms. The new rule requires states to submit specific recipient data and meet strict envelope and barcode standards, or face USPS rejection of their mail ballots.

Legal challengers argue the order and regulation violate the Constitution by granting executive authority over election procedures, a power reserved for states and Congress. New York Attorney General Letitia James, representing two dozen Democratic attorneys general, called the rule “a clear attempt by the federal government to interfere in elections it has no power to control.”

The Postal Service counters that its rule does not determine voter eligibility or alter states’ control over mail ballot access. A hearing is scheduled for September 3, and the case is expected to proceed rapidly through appeals, potentially reaching the Supreme Court again before the midterm elections.

Trump has long opposed mail-in voting, falsely linking it to his 2020 defeat, despite using mail voting himself as a Florida registered voter. Research from the Brookings Institution found mail-in voting fraud occurred in approximately four cases per 10 million ballots cast between 2016 and 2022, contradicting widespread fraud claims made by Trump and his supporters.