Judge Blocks Trump's Postal Mail-Ballot Rule for the Midterms as North Carolina Starts Mailing Ballots

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani issued a preliminary injunction on September 4 barring the Postal Service from requiring states to comply with its new mail-ballot rule for the November 3 midterms. The rule, issued under Trump's March 31 executive order on election integrity, would have required states to get USPS approval of ballot envelope designs, assign each envelope a barcode, and upload every mail voter's name and address to a new USPS portal. Talwani found the rule likely unlawful and unconstitutional and refused to pause her order pending appeal.

The ruling turns on who controls the machinery of federal elections. Talwani weighed the threatened disenfranchisement of millions of mail voters against a record that she found contained no evidence of mail-ballot fraud to justify the timeline, writing that states have neither the time nor the funds to comply before the midterms.

Her order leaves states free to adopt the requirements voluntarily and applies only to the 2026 midterms. North Carolina began mailing ballots the same day. The Justice Department said in a Friday night filing that it would appeal to the First Circuit.