Overview
- Late Sunday, U.S. District Judge Carl J. Nichols issued a preliminary injunction ordering the Postal Service not to implement the Aug. 21 mail‑ballot rule and said doing otherwise risks otherwise valid absentee and mail ballots going uncounted.
- Nichols’s order follows an earlier injunction by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani and comes while the Supreme Court is considering the administration’s appeal of Talwani’s decision.
- The USPS rule would require Postal Service pre‑approval of envelope designs and force states to upload voter‑specific recipient data into a portal that is not yet active, requirements officials say are technically unworkable so close to a general election.
- Election officials, a congressional whistleblower and the postal workers’ union warned the timeline and new tasks for Postal Service staff could delay or invalidate legitimate ballots, while several states have already started mailing ballots under existing procedures.
- With appeals pending in higher courts, the next steps are likely to be decided on appeal and could shape how far the federal government can impose mail‑voting rules on state‑run elections and how those rules affect voter access.