Nevada Attorney General Aaron D. Ford announced the U.S. Supreme Court has blocked a Postal Service rule that would have disrupted mail voting ahead of the November midterm elections.
The Trump administration's rule would have prohibited USPS from delivering mail ballots to voters not on a USPS-controlled list and would have required states to obtain federal approval of new ballot and return-envelope designs. The rule would have also required states to register all mail voters with USPS and enter them into a new federal tracking system.
Ford, who co-led the legal challenge with attorneys general from California, Massachusetts, and Washington, argued that the rule would have imposed burdensome requirements on states and violated federal law and the Constitution by infringing on state authority to administer elections.
President Trump issued the executive order on March 31, 2026, directing the Postal Service to adopt new regulations. On August 21, USPS announced the rule implementing the order. On August 26, Ford and the coalition filed a lawsuit to block it. A federal court granted a temporary restraining order on August 28, finding that compliance was "practically impossible" and created significant risk of voter disenfranchisement. A preliminary injunction was granted on September 4.
The Supreme Court's decision today denies the federal government's application to stay the injunction. The coalition included attorneys general from 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, plus the Governor of Pennsylvania.