US judge extends block on Trump order to restrict mail-in voting

A federal judge has extended a block on Donald Trump’s order seeking to restrict mail voting, creating another obstacle for the administration as states begin sending ballots for the midterm elections.

US District Judge Indira Talwani’s preliminary injunction replaces a temporary order that stopped the US Postal Service from implementing the plan. The Trump administration has already asked the Supreme Court to lift the earlier order and is expected to appeal the latest ruling.

Talwani said states face a fixed legal timetable for mailing millions of ballots. “Plaintiff states are required under state law to mail millions of ballots to voters on a prescribed timeframe,” she wrote. “As detailed below, they are unable to pivot this late in the election cycle, nearly guaranteeing significant disenfranchisement for eligible voters.”

North Carolina began sending its first mail ballots on Friday, with other states expected to follow quickly. Election officials say there is not enough time to revise their systems to comply with the new postal directives. The order still allows states to adopt the new system voluntarily, but no state has announced plans to do so.

The dispute could affect elections in which control of Congress is at stake. Nearly one-third of US voters cast mail ballots. Trump has long sought to limit the practice and has falsely blamed it for his 2020 election defeat, although he sometimes votes by mail himself.

The administration previously faced legal challenges over an executive order that sought to change election rules, including requiring documentary proof of citizenship for voter registration. Federal judges blocked that order, ruling that the Constitution gives states, and in some cases Congress, authority over voting procedures rather than the president.

Democrats and voting-rights groups filed lawsuits after Trump issued the mail-voting order in March. The Supreme Court overturned Talwani’s initial hold in late August, without ruling that Trump’s order was lawful. Its conservative majority said the lawsuits had been filed too early, before the Postal Service issued implementation rules. Plaintiffs then filed their cases again after those rules were released.

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Plaintiff states are required under state law to mail millions of ballots to voters on a prescribed timeframe. As detailed below, they are unable to pivot this late in the election cycle, nearly guaranteeing significant disenfranchisement for eligible voters.