A federal judge shut down the Trump administration’s latest attempt to fast-track sweeping new mail-in ballot rules just two months before the midterms, accusing the Justice Department of twisting a recent Supreme Court order to suit its own timeline.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani denied motions Monday from the Trump administration and intervening defendants seeking to lift her 14-day stay blocking the U.S. Postal Service’s new final rule on mail-in ballots. The rule, published August 26, would require state and local election officials to get USPS sign-off on ballot envelope designs and upload voter information through a federal portal before using the mail for election purposes — all with the November 3 midterms bearing down.
The administration argued it needed the stay lifted immediately, claiming that waiting for appellate review would come too late to matter for this year’s elections, and pointed to a recent Supreme Court order it claimed supported that urgency. Talwani wasn’t buying the interpretation.
“Contrary to Defendants’ cynical interpretation, the Supreme Court has not endorsed the view that any challenge to the Final Rule is now too late,” Talwani wrote.
Talwani noted the Supreme Court’s earlier ruling found review premature only because no final rule existed when the case was first filed—not that any future challenge would be barred once one did exist. She also rejected the administration’s attempt to frame the new voting requirements as “modest,” pointing out the rule conditions all use of federal election mail on states first securing USPS approval, a burden several state election officials say could be nearly impossible to fully meet in time.
The judge cited concerns from a North Carolina election official warning the rule risks disenfranchising eligible voters in November. Talwani emphasized that voters and election officials need “clear and settled” rules with the midterms now barely two months away, rather than last-minute changes imposed through a rushed federal rule.
With a preliminary injunction hearing already scheduled for September 3, the fight over the Trump administration’s mail voting overhaul is far from over — but for now, Talwani’s stay keeps the new requirements from taking effect as states head into the final stretch before Election Day.
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