Mail Ballots Going Out as Trump's Voting Order Faces Litigation

The Justice Department asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to let the Postal Service enforce new mail ballot rules, bypassing lower courts still weighing the matter days before the midterm mail-voting season opens.

• 23 Democratic-led states and voting rights groups are challenging the rules in federal court.
• Judge Talwani's 14-day restraining order currently blocks enforcement through Sept. 10.
• No state has voluntarily enrolled in the USPS online portal system, including the 12 states that backed the administration in court.
• A whistleblower report warns the portal is untested and a single barcode error could discard an entire batch of ballots.

Why it matters: The rules would require states to upload mail-voter lists to a USPS portal and get ballot envelope designs approved — or have their ballots withheld. Most states have already printed envelopes and ballots.

• The first ballots ship Friday; many election officials say compliance in that time frame is impossible.

How 31 sources split on this story

Where they split: The core legal dispute is whether the Postal Service has statutory authority to condition mail ballot delivery on envelope design and voter-list requirements, or whether that intrudes on constitutionally reserved state power over elections.

What’s next: Justice Jackson gave the challenging states until Tuesday morning to file a response.

• Judge Talwani must decide before Sept. 10 whether to convert the temporary block into a longer preliminary injunction.
• Will the Supreme Court act before North Carolina and other states ship their first large ballot batches?
• Is the USPS portal operational enough to run even if courts allow enforcement to resume?
• Would any state voluntarily comply with the USPS requirements even if the block is lifted?