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The Trump administration returned to the Supreme Court on Sunday seeking immediate enforcement of new Postal Service requirements for mail ballots as states begin sending voting materials ahead of the November midterms.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
The Trump administration renewed its appeal to the Supreme Court on Sunday, asking the justices to lift a federal judge’s injunction blocking new Postal Service requirements for mail ballots ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
The emergency filing followed U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani’s decision Friday to issue a preliminary injunction preventing the Postal Service from making several provisions of its new ballot-mail rule mandatory for this year’s elections. The requirements include standardized envelope designs, unique barcodes and state submission of information about mail-ballot recipients through a Postal Service portal. Talwani concluded that the challengers were likely to succeed in arguing that the rule exceeded Postal Service authority and intruded into election administration reserved to states and Congress.
Solicitor General John Sauer argued that the rapidly approaching election makes immediate Supreme Court intervention necessary because states are already sending ballots. “Ballots have already begun to be mailed in North Carolina, and more States will begin the mailing process as the injunction remains in place — including Alabama on September 9 and at least five States the week of September 13,” Sauer wrote.
“Once those ballot envelopes enter the mailstream, there is no retrieving them,” he continued. “And while the injunction allows the Postal Service and the States to continue taking steps to ensure that their envelopes satisfy the Rule’s requirements … each day the injunction is in place risks sowing confusion and chaos because the injunction makes those preparatory steps voluntary, rather than mandatory.”
The administration maintains that the Postal Service is regulating how sensitive election mail is prepared and handled, not determining who may vote. Under the rule, state and local election officials would continue deciding voter eligibility, maintaining voter rolls and determining which ballots may be counted. The Postal Service says its role would be limited to verifying that ballot envelopes meet design and information requirements before entering the mail system.
Talwani disagreed with the government’s broader legal argument, finding that the rule directly regulates election mail and that Congress has not delegated its Elections Clause authority to the Postal Service. She also cited the compressed timeline, concluding that imposing the new requirements less than 70 days before the election could disrupt state election systems and risk disenfranchising voters who rely on mail ballots.
The latest filing is the administration’s third request for Supreme Court intervention in the dispute. The justices previously stayed an earlier injunction that had blocked the Postal Service before its final rule was issued, finding that the challenge at that stage was premature. That ruling allowed the agency to complete its rulemaking but did not decide whether the final rule itself is lawful. After Talwani issued a new preliminary injunction against the completed rule Friday, the administration withdrew its earlier Sept. 3 application and filed the new request Sunday.
“Simply put, the best way to address respondents’ fears about inability to comply with the Rule is to grant an immediate administrative stay of the order, followed by a full stay pending further review,” Sauer said. “That will remove the improper cloud of uncertainty that the district court has cast over the Rule, making clear to all involved that compliance with the Rule is not optional and must start without further delay.”
Democratic-led states and voting-rights groups challenging the policy argue that the federal government lacks authority to impose the requirements and that changing mail-ballot procedures this close to Election Day could create confusion or prevent otherwise eligible voters from receiving ballots. Election officials have also argued that some jurisdictions do not have enough time to redesign envelopes and modify their systems before scheduled mailings.
The legal battle comes as mail voting remains a major part of U.S. elections, with roughly one-third of voters using mailed ballots in recent national contests. All states permit some form of absentee or mail voting, although eligibility rules differ significantly, and several states conduct elections largely or entirely by mail.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized widespread mail voting and has continued to associate it with fraud surrounding the 2020 election. Numerous state and federal reviews, court proceedings and election-security officials found no evidence of widespread fraud sufficient to change the outcome of that election.
The administration argues that the new Postal Service standards would strengthen tracking, improve delivery and make election mail more secure without changing state voter-eligibility rules. Opponents contend that the federal government is attempting to impose new election procedures without congressional authorization.
The dispute is now back before the Supreme Court as the practical window for changing ballot-mail procedures rapidly narrows. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson has directed opponents of the administration’s request to respond by Wednesday, Sept. 9, leaving the justices to decide whether the Postal Service requirements can take effect for the November elections while the broader legal challenge continues.
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