Story summary
The Trump administration has been pushing for new rules that would restrict mail-in voting, citing concerns about voter fraud. However, experts and officials from both parties have expressed concern that these rules could lead to widespread disenfranchisement of voters. The USPS was ordered by President Trump to implement these changes, which include requiring election officials to add unique barcodes to ballot envelopes and upload lists of people who requested ballots. However, a federal judge in Massachusetts has blocked the implementation of these new rules, citing concerns that they would be "virtually impossible" to comply with.
The new rules were set to take effect just weeks before the midterm elections, which are scheduled for November 3. North Carolina became the first state to start sending out mail-in ballots on Friday, despite the uncertainty surrounding the new federal rules. The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to lift a lower court's block on the order, but it remains unclear whether these changes will be allowed to take effect.
Critics of the new rules argue that they are an attempt by the Trump administration to centralize control of elections and undermine state authority over voting procedures. Notably, President Trump himself votes by mail, as do about a third of all U.S. voters. The Supreme Court is currently considering the legality of these changes, but it remains unclear how this will ultimately affect the election process.
Meanwhile, election officials are warning that implementing these new rules could lead to millions of ballots going undelivered. A whistleblower has warned that there are "potentially catastrophic problems" with the new system for handling federal election ballot mail. The implementation of these changes is being closely watched by election officials and voters across the country, who are concerned about the potential disruptions to the midterms.
Written for “Trump Mail Voting Restrictions” on 2026-09-05,
grounded in this article and the 15 other(s) covering the same event.
A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked a bid by President Donald Trump for the U.S. Postal Service to exert control over mail-in voting ahead of the midterm elections as one state begins mailing out ballots.
asserted
state → block → ballots
Boston-based U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani, who previously blocked a related effort on mail voting, found the new Postal Service rule dictating how mail-in ballots can be sent is likely unlawful and unconstitutional, prompting her to issue a preliminary injunction.
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ballots → base → injunction
The rushed time frame being pushed by the administration will make voter disenfranchisement “practically inevitable” if the rule is allowed to stay in place, the judge found.
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judge → push → place
The “court finds, on one side, that immediate implementation of the Final Rule issued less than seventy days before the November 2026 election threatens disenfranchisement of millions of United States citizens who seek to vote by mail,” while “on the other side, that the record includes no evidence relating to fraudulent mail voting to support the rushed implementation of the Final Rule,” Talwani wrote.
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Talwani → find → Rule
She rejected the Justice Department’s request that she pause her order while the administration appeals, and noted that her ruling does not bar states that want to follow the new rules from doing do.
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that → reject → rules
Talwani also said the ruling applies only to the midterms, since “the Final Rule imposes no irreparable harm as to later elections and judicial challenges may be addressed in the normal course.”
uncertain
challenges → say → course
The DOJ did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the judge’s order, but said in a court filing Friday night that it would appeal to the First Circuit Court of Appeals.
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it → respond → Appeals
The action comes a day after the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to override a temporary order issued by Talwani last week halting the rule.
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administration → come → rule
In that ruling, the judge sided with states and voting rights groups that argued the Postal Service rule unlawfully usurped states’ power to regulate their own elections — and left them facing an “impossible” timeline to comply.
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rule → side → timeline
“Through the Final Rule, the USPS is refusing to send mail ballots to eligible voters unless States or local election officials submit their mail ballot envelopes and return envelopes and receive advance approval from the USPS without regard to impending deadlines for the November 3, 2026 election,” the judge wrote.
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judge → refuse → election
It also “requires elections officials to create accounts for a new electronic portal, certify that they have received approval regarding the mail ballot design, and thereafter upload to the USPS portal each voter’s information, including name, address, and a unique intelligent mail barcode,” she noted.
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she → require → name
“Based on the record presently before the court, Plaintiff States face irreparable harm where they are required to comply with a likely unconstitutional regulation for which compliance is practically impossible as to the 2026 midterm elections, now little more than two months away,” Talwani wrote.
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Talwani → base → elections
The states “have neither time nor funds to design new mail ballots, seek approval of the new designs, order production of mail ballots, update their own election management systems, train election officials to use the USPS portal, and upload citizen data to the portal, all before the midterms,” she wrote.
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she → have → midterms
North Carolina began sending out ballots Friday, as required by state law.
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Carolina → begin → law
State Attorney General Jeff Jackson, a Democrat, said in a statement Thursday that if the Supreme Court sides with the administration, it would “throw our election into chaos.”
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it → say → chaos
“The ballots are printed, the process is underway, and North Carolinians deserve a lawful and orderly election,” Jackson said.
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Jackson → print → election
In his filing to the Supreme Court, U.S. Solicitor General John Sauer argued it was Talwani and not the rush to implement the directive that’s causing “confusion.”
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that → argue → confusion
While her order allowed states that want to follow the new requirement to do so, that “risks sowing confusion and chaos because it makes those preparatory steps voluntary, and not mandatory,” Sauer wrote.
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Sauer → allow → confusion
“Thus, if the order is eventually stayed and the rule takes effect for this year’s elections — as should occur, there is a grave risk that States may not have taken the necessary steps to comply due to the false latitude allowed by the court’s improper order, potentially depriving those States’ citizens of the ability to vote by mail,” Sauer added.
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Sauer → stay → mail
The rule change came about after an executive order issued by President Donald Trump on March 31 titled “Ensuring Citizenship Verification and Integrity in Federal Elections.”
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change → come → Elections
Talwani issued an earlier order in a related case barring the rule from going into effect, but it was reversed last month by the Supreme Court, which found the rule had not yet been finalized.
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rule → issue → Court
“The court’s disposition of this application does not mean that any measure taken by the Government to implement the order will necessarily be lawful.
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measure → mean → order
On that score, time will tell,” the court said in an unsigned 6-3 ruling.
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court → tell → ruling
The rule was subsequently finalized late last month.
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rule → finalize → ?
In his filing to the high court this week, Sauer argued the changes that are being implemented are “modest.”
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that → argue → court
