Federal judge keeps Trump rule restricting mail-in voting blocked

A federal judge in Massachusetts has turned a temporary pause into a preliminary injunction against Donald Trump’s effort to restrict mail-in voting, keeping the Postal Service from applying disputed requirements before November’s elections.

Judge Indira Talwani had previously issued a temporary order blocking part of the rules. The Trump administration appealed that order to the Supreme Court. Her new ruling goes further by addressing the substance of the dispute and can itself be appealed.

Talwani rejected the Justice Department’s argument that the Postal Service changes concern postal mail generally. She said the rule regulates election mail “explicitly and exclusively”. The judge also said Congress had never delegated to the Postal Service the authority the administration claimed under the Elections Clause.

The Justice Department asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to let the Postal Service implement the new rules, which were developed under a March executive order by Trump. The order directs federal agencies to compile lists of voters who may receive ballots, reducing the role states traditionally play in election administration.

The lawsuit challenges the Postal Service’s final regulation as well as Trump’s March order. The plaintiffs include 23 states, the District of Columbia, Pennsylvania’s governor, and civil-rights organizations. The injunction prevents the Postal Service from imposing contested requirements involving envelope formats and voter information. Trump has justified the order as a measure to prevent election fraud and directed the Department of Homeland Security to prepare lists of U.S. citizens of voting age in all 50 states, alongside a separate Postal Service list of voters eligible to receive ballots by mail.

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Explicitly and exclusively