A federal judge in Massachusetts granted a temporary restraining order halting the U.S. Postal Service from implementing new mail ballot restrictions, providing a two-week pause while the court weighs whether to issue a longer-lasting injunction.
The order stops the Postal Service from taking "further preparatory steps" related to new mail ballot rules that the agency adopted following President Trump's March 31 executive order on elections.
Colorado and 23 other states, plus Washington, D.C., filed a lawsuit on August 26 to block the mail ballot restrictions. The League of Women Voters of Massachusetts filed a separate challenge. The temporary restraining order responds to motions from both cases.
The Postal Service rule requires states and local election officials to redesign and reprint ballot envelopes, enroll millions of voters with the USPS, and direct the service to reject ballots that do not meet the new requirements.
"Trump does not have the authority to decide which voters can receive a mail ballot or impose his own rules on our elections," Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold said in a statement.
The U.S. Supreme Court allowed key portions of the March executive order to proceed on August 24, though justices noted that lower courts had moved too soon because the Postal Service had not yet issued actual rules. The service published its final rule on August 20, with implementation set for August 26βthe same day Colorado and other states filed suit.
The restraining order lasts 14 days while the court considers whether to block the rule through the midterm election, 68 days away.