The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to let the Postal Service enforce a new rule on mail-in ballots while lawsuits move forward. The decision leaves in place a lower-court order blocking the measure ahead of the midterm elections.
The rule followed Trump’s March executive order. It would have required states to give the Postal Service lists of voters receiving mail ballots and to use agency-approved envelopes with unique barcodes. The Postal Service could then refuse to send ballots that did not meet those standards or were tied to voters not on the lists.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston blocked the rule on September 4, saying it likely violated the Constitution because states run elections and there was not enough time for states to comply. The Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused last Thursday to lift that order. Another federal judge in Washington, D.C. also ruled against the rule on Sunday. A coalition of states and “voting-rights” groups brought the challenges.
The Supreme Court’s short order said the government is unlikely to win its challenge to Talwani’s injunction. Justice Samuel Alito, joined by Justice Clarence Thomas, dissented, writing that the Postal Service has broad authority to regulate the mail. Justice Brett Kavanaugh agreed with leaving the block in place for now, but said there is a “fair prospect” the rule falls within Postal Service authority, though election officials do not have enough time to put it in place before the 2026 elections.
In a Truth Social post after the ruling, Trump called it a “horrible, highly political” decision and “a big loss for Republicans, and America itself.” He said the court “took forever” and then blamed a lack of time to fix a “totally CORRUPT” mail-in voting “SCAM.” He praised Justices Alito and Thomas, while saying some justices are “petrified” of Democrats and “a shell of their original selves.”
