Judge Blocks Trump's Mail-Ballot Crackdown Nationwide Ahead of Midterms
A federal judge in Boston expanded an injunction stopping the Postal Service from enforcing Trump's election order, teeing up an appeals fight before November.
A federal judge dealt the Trump administration a fresh setback in its fight over mail-in voting on Tuesday, ruling that the U.S. Postal Service cannot enforce a White House order restricting how mail ballots are handled anywhere in the country ahead of the 2026 midterms.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani granted a preliminary injunction blocking USPS from implementing or enforcing Section 3 of Executive Order 14399 for the November 3 midterm elections, or any federal election held before then. The ruling expands an earlier injunction Talwani issued in June, which had applied more narrowly, into a nationwide bar on the disputed provision while the underlying lawsuit plays out.
WHAT THE ORDER ACTUALLY DOES
The order stops USPS from refusing to transmit mail-in or absentee ballots under the challenged section of Trump's directive, and it blocks the agency from moving forward with rulemaking meant to implement related regulations before the midterms. Trump signed the underlying executive order in March as part of what the White House has billed as an election integrity agenda, directing federal agencies to tighten rules around how mail ballots are postmarked, verified and delivered.
Voting rights groups and several state election officials had challenged the order, arguing it would create chaos and delay for the millions of Americans who vote by mail, particularly in states that rely heavily on the Postal Service to process ballots in the final days before an election.
SECTION 3 OF THE ORDER IS BLOCKED NATIONWIDE — FOR THIS ELECTION AND ANY FEDERAL ELECTION BEFORE IT
The ruling, handed down Tuesday, is the latest in a string of court losses for the administration's mail-voting push, which has faced legal challenges in multiple jurisdictions since the spring.
The Trump administration is expected to appeal the decision to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston, according to reporting on the case. With the midterms less than three months away, election administrators in several states said they were relying on the injunction to lock in their mail-ballot procedures without further disruption. The case now heads to the appeals court, where a ruling could come before ballots start going out this fall.