U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani on Thursday considered whether to extend a prohibition against the U.S. Postal Service requiring states to use a new mail balloting system for the midterms, a system implemented as part of an executive order by former President Donald Trump.
The hearing in Boston comes as the first states begin sending mail ballots to voters. Talwani previously issued a 14-day temporary restraining order last week, which expires next week as more states prepare to send out ballots.
This is not the first time Talwani has addressed the issue. In June, she blocked the administration from implementing Trump's order for the November election, citing the late timing. However, the Supreme Court later ruled her order premature because the Postal Service had not yet finalized regulations for the order. The agency did so shortly before the Supreme Court's decision, leading voting rights groups to refile their lawsuits.
Plaintiffs argue that the president lacks the constitutional authority to set election rules, a power reserved for states and Congress. They achieved an initial victory with Talwani's restraining order, though the administration has appealed it, suggesting the case may return to the Supreme Court.
Election officials have expressed concerns about complying with the Postal Service's directives, which they say could necessitate a complete overhaul of their operations. The new requirements stipulate that the Postal Service must approve the design of mail ballot envelopes and that states must upload lists of recipients to an online portal before ballots can be delivered.
Some ballots have already been sent, with municipalities in Wisconsin opting to mail them out earlier this week. Friday marks the official start of the voting period, as North Carolina begins shipping mail ballots to all registered voters who have requested them.
The administration has maintained that the changes are minor and legal. However, the required online portal was reportedly still inactive this week, and most election offices have already printed their ballots and envelopes.
A whistleblower report released this week has raised further concerns, warning that the Postal Service's new rules could result in millions of mail ballots not being delivered. The rules require all ballots to be physically brought to post offices before mailing. Under the new system, if a single ballot's barcode registers an error, the entire batch could be rejected, potentially affecting tens of thousands of legitimate ballots.