Overview
- U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani extended a preliminary injunction last week that bars the Postal Service from enforcing key parts of a new mail‑ballot rule, and the Department of Justice filed a third emergency appeal to the Supreme Court on Sunday.
- The Postal Service rule would force states to upload lists of mail‑ballot recipients to a federal portal, require automation‑compatible envelopes with unique barcodes, and allow USPS to refuse delivery of ballots that do not meet its standards.
- States have already begun sending ballots and more will start this month, creating tight timing that election officials say makes reprinting envelopes, creating portal accounts, and retraining staff impractical and could delay or reject some ballots.
- Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson set an expedited deadline for responses by Sept. 9, and the fast legal track means the Supreme Court could decide whether any part of the rule applies before Election Day on Nov. 3.
- The administration says the rule is a modest exercise of mail‑regulation authority while 23 states and voting rights groups argue it unlawfully federalizes elections and could limit voter access, a dispute with direct stakes for who controls Congress.