Appeals Court Keeps Trump's Mail-Ballot Rules Blocked as Midterms Near
The 1st Circuit left in place an injunction against new USPS mail-ballot requirements, as the Justice Department presses the Supreme Court to let the rules take effect before November.
A federal appeals court on Thursday declined to let the U.S. Postal Service enforce a new Trump administration rule restricting mail-in ballots ahead of the November midterms, keeping the policy frozen while an emergency appeal sits before the Supreme Court.
The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a preliminary injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani, who found the rule "threatens disenfranchisement of millions of United States citizens who seek to vote by mail." The case, League of Women Voters of Massachusetts v. Trump, challenges a March 31 executive order directing USPS to require states to submit mail-ballot envelope designs and voter-data lists with barcodes, with ballots that don't meet the new specifications subject to rejection.
Second trip to the Supreme Court
The ruling marks the latest turn in a monthslong legal fight. The Supreme Court allowed parts of Trump's executive order to move forward earlier this year, but Judge Talwani's September 4 injunction blocked USPS from applying the rule to the 2026 election specifically. The Department of Justice, led on this matter by Solicitor General D. John Sauer, has now asked the Supreme Court twice — most recently in a September 6 emergency application — to lift the block, arguing the rule imposes only "modest envelope-design and addressee-information requirements."
"Nothing is hypothetical" about the harm to voters and states this close to an election, Judge Talwani wrote in extending her order.
The American Civil Liberties Union, which represents challengers in the case, welcomed the appeals court's decision. "The U.S. Postal Service is not the gatekeeper for mail ballots," the group said in a statement, warning the rule could disproportionately affect military members, overseas citizens, seniors and voters with disabilities.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who handles emergency matters from the 1st Circuit, had set a response deadline for the states opposing the rule earlier this week. A final Supreme Court decision on whether to intervene is expected in the coming days, according to ABC News.
For now, mail-in voting is proceeding under existing state rules as ballots begin going out for the November 3 midterm elections, with USPS saying it will not implement the contested requirements unless and until the courts clear the way.