Illustration: BallotWire
By BallotWire
09/14/2026
The Wire: The U.S. Supreme Court on Sept. 14 refused to let the Trump administration enforce new U.S. Postal Service restrictions on mail ballots before the November midterms, leaving a lower-court block in place so voters will cast mail ballots under existing rules.
Why it counts: The order removes a major source of last-minute uncertainty for election officials who had been bracing to overhaul their mail-ballot systems weeks before Election Day. It is a significant setback to President Trump's push to give the federal government new control over how ballots are handled.
The margin: The unsigned order left in place an injunction from U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston, whose ruling the First Circuit had declined to disturb days earlier. Roughly two dozen Democratic-led states and voting-rights groups challenged the rule, and it would have taken effect fewer than 70 days before the election.
The fine print: The rule would have required states to submit lists of their mail-ballot voters to a USPS portal and to use approved envelopes with specific designs and unique barcodes, and it would have let the Postal Service refuse ballots that did not comply. The justices did not resolve whether the Postal Service has the authority to impose those requirements. In a concurrence, Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote that there was "a fair prospect" the rule is lawful but that state and local officials "do not have sufficient time to implement the rule" before November reasonably.
On the record: The brief order turned on the government's odds of prevailing, with the justices writing that "the Government is unlikely to succeed on the merits of its challenge" to the lower court's decision.
The counter: The administration signaled it would keep fighting in the lower courts. The Postal Service maintained it had acted within its legal authority, adding that "ultimately the courts will decide that question, and we will follow the court's determination." Because the ruling rested partly on timing, the underlying authority question remains open for future elections.
The backdrop: The rules stem from Trump's March 31 executive order, his second directive targeting election administration, which directed the Postal Service to set new standards for mail and absentee ballots. Other provisions of that order, including creating state citizenship lists using federal data, face separate legal challenges, part of a broader effort by the administration to reshape federal election rules ahead of the midterms.
Looking ahead: The restrictions will not apply to the Nov. 3 election, and states will run mail voting as they have in past cycles. The litigation continues, and courts could still decide whether the Postal Service may impose the requirements in future elections, leaving the fight unresolved beyond this year.