Judge Blocks USPS Mail Ballot Rule Ahead of Midterms

A federal judge in Boston on Thursday night temporarily blocked the U.S. Postal Service from implementing a new rule that would have tightened requirements for mail-in ballots ahead of the November 3 midterm elections. U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani issued a 14-day temporary restraining order, halting enforcement of key provisions of the rule that was finalized earlier in the week.

The rule, adopted at the direction of President Donald Trump, would have required states to submit lists of mail ballot recipients to the USPS and mandated that all ballot envelopes bear unique barcodes. The Postal Service could then refuse to deliver ballots that did not comply with the new standards or were associated with voters not on the federal lists. The judge found that the plaintiffs, a coalition of 24 Democratic-led states and the District of Columbia along with voting rights groups including the League of Women Voters, were likely to succeed on their claims that the USPS lacked the statutory authority to issue such a rule and that it unconstitutionally imposed election mandates on states.

In her ruling, Judge Talwani stated that compliance with the rule before the November 3 election...