Overview
- The Department of Justice filed an emergency request to the Supreme Court on Thursday seeking authority for the Postal Service to retain or delay mail ballots and to lift a Massachusetts judge’s temporary block on parts of the rules.
- A federal judge in Massachusetts has temporarily enjoined portions of the USPS regulation, even though the Supreme Court allowed limited parts of the administration’s decree to proceed in August.
- An anonymous USPS whistleblower told reporters the agency continued work on an online portal and warned that an untested, near‑zero‑tolerance verification system could reject whole batches of ballots.
- The Postal Service confirmed it prepared the portal but said it did not disobey court orders and that it is not carrying out pre‑acceptance verification of ballots at this time.
- Early mail voting has already begun in North Carolina, the 23‑state coalition of Democratic governors and voting‑rights groups has sued to block the rules, and political leaders including California’s governor have publicly demanded criminal consequences for officials who defy court orders as the high court faces a compressed timetable with national effects.