Key facts
- A U.S. appeals court rejected the Trump administration's bid to implement new U.S. Postal Service rules tightening mail-in voting requirements.
- The ruling upholds a lower-court injunction preventing the USPS from enforcing the new rule.
- The USPS rule, adopted at President Donald Trump's direction, requires states to supply lists of mail ballot recipients and unique barcodes on all ballot envelopes.
- The USPS may refuse to deliver ballots that do not comply with the new standards or are associated with voters not on the lists.
- A federal judge issued the injunction, concluding the rule risked disenfranchising voters and was likely unlawful.
- The administration had asked the Supreme Court to pause the lower court's ruling.
A U.S. appeals court on Thursday declined to allow the Trump administration to implement new U.S. Postal Service rules that would tighten mail-in voting requirements before November's congressional election. The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston upheld a lower-court injunction that has prevented the USPS from enforcing the rule, which was adopted at the direction of President Donald Trump.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani had issued the injunction, concluding that the rule risked disenfranchising voters and was likely unlawful. The rule requires states to supply USPS with lists of mail ballot recipients and mandates unique barcodes on all outbound and return ballot envelopes. The USPS could refuse to deliver ballots that do not comply with these standards or are associated with voters not on the provided lists.
The administration had previously asked the Supreme Court to intervene and pause Talwani's ruling. The USPS issued the rule following years of Trump's claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election. A whistleblower statement released on September 1 alleged that the USPS was rushing to implement a new system that risked disrupting mail ballot delivery during the election.