Another Federal Court Blocks Implementation of USPS Rule That Would Have Hindered Mail Voting
WASHINGTON — Yesterday, in a victory for voters, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia blocked a new United States Postal Service (USPS) rule that, as dictated by an executive order issued by the president in March, would have given the executive branch unprecedented control over mail voting and injected chaos and confusion into the 2026 midterm elections for voters and election administrators alike.
As the court ruled yesterday, USPS’s attempt to singlehandedly overhaul mail voting processes for the entire nation exceeds USPS’s legal authority and cannot be enforced for the 2026 midterm elections.
The new rule, which has now been enjoined by multiple courts, would have mandated burdensome new technical requirements for every state and local election official that sends ballots to voters through the U.S. Mail, and would have given USPS the power to refuse to send ballot mail to voters if states failed to comply with the rule’s requirements.
As our expert witness Tammy Patrick explained in her declaration to the court, this “unprecedented” rule would have been “virtually impossible” for election officials to implement in time for the November general election.
That’s why Campaign Legal Center (CLC) and Democracy Defenders Fund (DDF), on behalf the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), Secure Families Initiative (SFI), Arizona Students’ Association (ASA) the city of Madison, Wisconsin, and Travis County, Texas, asked the court to prevent this rule from going into effect.
An appeal of a separate preliminary injunction enjoining implementation of the USPS rule, issued by the District Court for the District of Massachusetts, is currently pending and awaiting decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. The injunction here issued by the D.C. District Court, in a decision by a judge appointed by President Trump during his first term, underscores how unlawful the rule is.
“Yesterday’s ruling is a win for the millions of Americans who will cast their ballots by mail this election cycle. The court’s ruling blocking this rule is yet another affirmation that the president’s attempts to tamper with and sow doubt in our electoral process will fail,” said Anna Baldwin, director of voting rights litigation at Campaign Legal Center. "We are proud to have achieved this important victory underscoring that Congress has never given USPS the authority to require key provisions of the mail voting rules that it recently unveiled, further safeguarding our democracy and preserving the effectiveness and reliability of mail voting.”
“The federal government tried to make Latino voters’ access to their ballots depend on whether state and local election officials could satisfy a new and last-minute federal mandate,” said Juan Proaño, CEO of LULAC. “Voters do not design ballot envelopes, operate election databases or decide how elections are administered. Denying them ballots over any of those things turns common sense on its head. This ruling protects the communities we serve from being punished for decisions entirely outside their control.”
“For military and overseas voters, mail-in voting isn’t a luxury — it’s a critical lifeline that keeps us connected to the very democracy we serve to protect,” said Sarah Streyder, executive director of Secure Families Initiative. “Our community already faces a 27% voter participation deficit compared to our civilian counterparts. This Executive Order would’ve only compounded the regular barriers we already face, and we praise this court for blocking that from happening.”
“Once again, we get to celebrate that democracy is defended when we protect access to the ballot. Defending our nation requires actively confronting every attempt to weaken or strip away our fundamental rights — and mail-in voting is essential to that effort, not just for students, but for every single American. We remain fiercely committed to continuing our advocacy until equal voting rights are secured for all,” said Jessica Mendoza, executive director of Arizona Students’ Association.
“This is an important win for local clerks, who simply want to serve their communities and administer fair, secure, and accurate elections. No matter who is in the White House, any effort to disenfranchise eligible voters is an attack on democracy,” said Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway.
“I am grateful that the judge recognized the significant financial, logistical and practical burdens these rules would have imposed on voters and election administrators across the nation,” said Travis County Clerk Dyana Limon-Mercado. “Travis County will not stand on the sidelines or stay silent when rules threaten to burden or undermine our residents’ constitutional right to vote—whether they are voting by mail or casting a ballot in person this November.”
“This decision is yet another court reinforcing that the president does not have the power to rewrite election rules by executive order,” said Pooja Chaudhuri, senior counsel and deputy legal director at Democracy Defenders Fund. “Even a Trump-appointed judge is accepting this and that forcing states and election officials to make sweeping changes while voting has already started would create widespread confusion and prevent eligible voters from having their ballots counted. We are hopeful that the courts will continue to uphold the U.S. Constitution and prevent this desperate attempt to seize power and interfere in the election.”
Background:
Ours was one of several cases filed in response to the executive order and USPS rule. Once the fight reached the Supreme Court, CLC President and Founder Trevor Potter filed an amicus brief that urged the Court not to block a lower court ruling pausing the order from going into effect.
The Supreme Court issued an order on the shadow docket pausing this lower court order on August 24, 2026. The Supreme Court order stated that its decision to stay — or pause — the lower court order was based on the timing of the plaintiffs’ claims, not on the merits of whether the president’s executive order was lawful. The lower courts, according to the Supreme Court, acted too soon when they issued orders blocking the enforcement of the president’s executive order.
On August 25, 2026, this coalition filed new claims to prevent this rule from being implemented. On August 28, 2026, we filed a motion for a preliminary injunction asking the court to block the USPS rule, in addition to a temporary pause ordered by a federal court in Massachusetts in a separate case against the rule.
The ruling, by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, was in response to that August 28 filing.
###
The nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center advances democracy through law. We safeguard the freedom to vote, defend voters’ right to know who is spending money to influence elections, and work to ensure public trust in our elected officials.
Learn more about CLC. Don't miss out on our latest resources: Subscribe to President Trevor Potter's newsletter on LinkedIn or email and tune in to the latest season of our award-winning podcast, Democracy Decoded.