A federal court issued a temporary restraining order blocking a new United States Postal Service rule that would have imposed new requirements on mail voting systems before November elections, according to Nevada Attorney General Aaron D. Ford. The order came after Ford co-led a coalition of 25 states and Pennsylvania's governor in suing to block the rule.
The USPS rule, announced Aug. 21, would have required states to obtain federal approval of ballot and return envelope designs, register voters in a new USPS portal, and comply with additional provisions. The court found that compliance before the elections was "practically impossible," as states do not have time to redesign ballots, update election systems, train officials, and upload voter information to a new portal.
The rule neither provided a deadline for states to submit ballot designs nor guaranteed USPS approval timelines, creating a significant risk of disenfranchisement, according to the court's findings. Many states had already ordered ballots, and some are required by state law to begin sending them to voters within days.
The rule implemented an executive order issued by President Trump on March 31 that directed USPS to transmit mail ballots only to voters on a national list. USPS's August rule tasked states with registering every voter eligible for mail voting and required states to meet new design standards approved by USPS. Under the rule, USPS would not deliver ballots to voters not on its lists or in envelopes failing to comply with the standards.
Ford argued the rule violated federal statutes and the Constitution, which grants states primary authority over elections. "This rule would have imposed impossible last-minute requirements on our election procedures and put eligible voters at risk of being disenfranchised," Ford said.
The coalition challenging the rule included attorneys general from California, Massachusetts, Washington, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin, as well as Pennsylvania's governor.