24 States Sue to Block New Postal Service Rules for Mail Voting

A significant legal challenge has emerged against new U.S. Postal Service regulations concerning mail-in voting. Twenty-four states and the District of Columbia have jointly filed a lawsuit, seeking to block a rule they argue infringes upon state authority and constitutional principles. The states contend the new requirements, stemming from a March executive order by President Trump, will hinder their ability to manage mail-in voting programs for the upcoming midterm elections.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Massachusetts, asserts that the Postal Service's rule unconstitutionally oversteps the executive branch's power and interferes with states' rights to administer elections under their own laws. Attorneys general for the plaintiff states declared the rule violates the Constitution and federal statutes multiple times over. They argue it displaces state laws, imposes new constraints on ballot mail, and disregards federal voting rights law.

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The Rule violates the Constitution and federal statutes many times over. It displaces state laws adopted pursuant to each State's constitutional authority to administer elections, erects new USPS functions and ballot mail constraints that are inconsistent with USPS's governing statutes, flouts USPS's procedural requirements, violates the Privacy Act, and cannot be reconciled with federal voting rights law.

According to the states, implementing the Postal Service's new measures will necessitate immediate and costly redesigns of mail ballot envelopes to meet the specified requirements, including trackable barcodes. Furthermore, election officials will be compelled to rapidly develop new systems to share voter information with the Postal Service, a process they claim will divert essential time, money, and resources away from election administration. The states warn that these changes risk disenfranchising voters who rely on mail ballots.

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Each of these defects would alone establish the Rule's unlawfulness. Together, they demonstrate USPS's utter disregard for the law in carrying out the President's policy preferences.