Second Federal Judge Blocks Trump Mail Ballot Rule; Supreme Court Weighs

The Department of Justice asks the Supreme Court to lift a second order blocking President Donald Trump’s mail voting restrictions.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee in Washington, D.C., blocked a new Postal Service rule governing mail-in ballots late Sunday night. Judge Nichols granted Democratic and voting rights groups a preliminary injunction. He concluded Congress empowered the Postal Service to move mail, not to force states to enroll mail voters in a federal portal or to refuse ballots that fail its checks.

Nichols wrote that the new rule could make it harder for some people to vote by mail and that the new regulation exceeded the Postal Service's authority. He stated, "No statute grants the Postal Service the power to issue key parts of the rule." This decision follows a similar order from U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston, who blocked parts of the same rule on September 4.

The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals left Talwani's injunction in place on September 10. The Supreme Court is considering the administration's appeal of Talwani's order. The Postal Service published the final rule on August 27, enacting two major changes. These include three new design requirements for election officials and a mandate for officials to register eligible voters in a new "Federal Ballot Mail Portal."

Democrats and voting rights groups called the rule an unlawful intrusion by the federal government into election administration. Nichols previously denied a similar bid in May, finding the case was not ripe until the rule was finalized. The Supreme Court rejected an identical case brought by a multistate coalition in a 6-3 decision on August 24. The final decision on whether the restrictions can proceed likely rests with the nation’s top court.