2026 Election

Judge again blocks Trump’s effort to restrict mail voting as ballots start going out.. The move comes as the Trump administration appeals a related order to the Supreme Court.

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The rushed time frame being pushed by the administration will make voter disenfranchisement “practically inevitable” if the rule is allowed to stay in place, the judge found. Matt Slocum / AP file

Sept. 4, 2026, 3:11 PM PDT / Updated, By Dareh Gregorian

A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked a bid by President Donald Trump for the U.S. Postal Service to exert control over mail-in voting ahead of the midterm elections as one state begins mailing out ballots.

Boston-based U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani, who previously blocked a related effort on mail voting, found the new Postal Service rule dictating how mail-in ballots can be sent is likely unlawful and unconstitutional, prompting her to issue a preliminary injunction.The rushed time frame being pushed by the administration will make voter disenfranchisement “practically inevitable” if the rule is allowed to stay in place, the judge found.

The “court finds, on one side, that immediate implementation of the Final Rule issued less than seventy days before the November 2026 election threatens disenfranchisement of millions of United States citizens who seek to vote by mail,” while “on the other side, that the record includes no evidence relating to fraudulent mail voting to support the rushed implementation of the Final Rule,” Talwani wrote.

She rejected the Justice Department’s request that she pause her order while the administration appeals, and noted that her ruling does not bar states that want to follow the new rules from doing do. Talwani also said the ruling applies only to the midterms, since “the Final Rule imposes no irreparable harm as to later elections and judicial challenges may be addressed in the normal course.”The DOJ did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the judge’s order, but said in a court filing Friday night that it would appeal to the First Circuit Court of Appeals.

The action comes a day after the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to override a temporary order issued by Talwani last week halting the rule. In that ruling, the judge sided with states and voting rights groups that argued the Postal Service rule unlawfully usurped states’ power to regulate their own elections — and left them facing an “impossible” timeline to comply.“Through the Final Rule, the USPS is refusing to send mail ballots to eligible voters unless States or local election officials submit their mail ballot envelopes and return envelopes and receive advance approval from the USPS without regard to impending deadlines for the November 3, 2026 election,” the judge wrote.

Read more: Judge again blocks Trump’s effort to restrict mail voting as ballots start going out – NBC News

Source: Judge again blocks Trump’s effort to restrict mail voting as ballots start going out – NBC News