Overview
- The Trump administration filed an emergency appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday, Sept. 14, asking the justices to lift a preliminary injunction that currently blocks USPS from putting the rule into practice.
- The contested rule would force states to provide complete voter registration lists to a new USPS portal and require individualized barcoded return envelopes that USPS would use to reject ballots that do not match records.
- A federal judge, Indira Talwani, issued the preliminary injunction after legal challenges arguing the rule exceeds federal authority and would interfere with state control of election administration.
- Internal and congressional disclosures say the USPS portal is not fully built and was rushed, an anonymous employee warned of a possible system failure, and the Postmaster General testified USPS could withhold ballots from states that refuse to supply the requested voter data.
- California election officials say they will continue normal vote‑by‑mail operations, are preparing contingency plans such as more early in‑person and dropbox options, and warn that a Supreme Court decision allowing the rule to take effect could disrupt mail ballots for millions of voters.