WASHINGTON
A federal judge in Massachusetts on Thursday again temporarily blocked a key provision of President Donald Trump's initiative to restrict mail-in voting. U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani halted a new Postal Service rule directing the agency to deliver mail-in ballots only to eligible voters on federal citizenship lists.
The ruling came one day after Judge Talwani lifted a similar injunction that had stood as the last remaining obstacle to Trump's order. The previous block was removed following a Supreme Court ruling on Aug. 30 that lifted a comparable injunction.
Democratic states and voting rights organizations filed new legal challenges on Wednesday, Sept. 1. Judge Talwani blocked several key provisions of the USPS rule for 14 days, expiring later this month.
In an 11-page order, Judge Talwani wrote that the record lacks any evidence of fraudulent mail-in voting. "The 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," she stated.
Voting rights groups argued the initiative is unconstitutional, contending it usurps the authority of states and Congress to regulate elections. "Neither the President nor the USPS can force states to overhaul their mail voting system or refuse to carry election mail," they wrote in a brief.
The Trump administration maintained the rule is legal, filing Thursday that it merely proposes improvements and modernization for USPS infrastructure handling mail ballots. The government said the rule "creates standardized design and review requirements for federal ballot envelopes that have long been recommended by the Postal Service" and does not displace state election law or prevent voters from casting mail ballots.
The Trump administration announced Friday it is appealing Judge Talwani's order, pushing the legal battle closer to November elections as deadlines tighten. Judge Talwani held a hearing on Sept. 3 to consider a longer-term block, one day before the earliest state deadline—Sept. 4—for sending mail-in ballots to military and overseas voters.
