A federal judge has once again blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order aimed at limiting mail voting, issuing a 14-day hold on its implementation just weeks before the midterm elections. U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani issued the order Thursday, stating that states "have neither time nor funds to design new mail ballots, seek approval of the new designs, order production of mail ballots, update their own election management systems, train election officials to use the USPS portal and upload citizen data to the portal, all before the midterms."
The ruling came after Democrats and voting rights groups refiled lawsuits following a Supreme Court decision that overturned an earlier freeze on the order by Talwani. The Supreme Court had stated that the legal challenges were filed too soon, but it did not rule on the executive order's legality. The administration has since issued a formal rule governing the U.S. Postal Service's role in delivering mail ballots, effectively restarting the legal process.
This legal back-and-forth carries significant implications for the upcoming elections, as nearly one-third of Americans vote by mail. Election officials argue there is insufficient time to adapt their systems to new Postal Service directives. The Postal Service has indicated it will not deliver mail ballots unless states provide a voter list and format envelopes in a specific way.
Opponents, including Democrats and voting rights groups, contend these demands are unconstitutional, asserting that election rules fall under the purview of states and Congress, not the president or the Postal Service. This reasoning was previously used to block Trump's initial executive order last year, which sought to alter election procedures, such as requiring proof of citizenship for voter registration.
Trump, who has frequently and falsely criticized mail voting while using it himself, issued the executive order targeting mail ballots in March. While initial legal challenges were argued as premature by the administration, Talwani had placed injunctions against the order for the November midterms. The Supreme Court's decision to strike down one of those holds, citing prematurity, allowed Talwani to remove the second injunction. Plaintiffs have since refiled their cases, citing the Postal Service's publication of its final rule, in anticipation of a potentially lengthy legal battle that could again reach the Supreme Court.