Second federal judge freezes Trump mail ballot order with US Supreme
Court poised to weigh in
[September 14, 2026]
By NICHOLAS RICCARDI
A federal judge late Sunday ordered that the U.S. Postal Service not
implement President Donald Trump's executive order limiting mail
balloting, adding another obstacle to the administration's effort to
rewrite election rules as the Supreme Court is poised to weigh in on the
matter.
The nation's highest court already is considering the administration's
appeal of an order by U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani in Boston
prohibiting the Postal Service from enforcing its new rule on mail
voting before this year's midterm elections.
Late Sunday, U.S. District Judge Carl J. Nichols in Washington, D.C.,
handed down a similar hold on the rule, which was issued Aug. 21.
“Plaintiffs have demonstrated that, absent an injunction, there is an
increased risk that a significant number of otherwise appropriate
absentee or mail-in ballots will ultimately not be counted in the
upcoming elections,” Nichols wrote in issuing the preliminary
injunction. “The public has a strong interest in ensuring that doesn’t
happen.”
Nichols in May had refused to issue an injunction because he ruled the
lawsuit seeking one was brought too early. That was the high court's
reasoning late last month when it lifted an earlier freeze by Talwani.
But because the administration had just issued its rule to move ahead
with Trump's plan, the plaintiffs in Boston and Washington, D.C.,
refiled their lawsuits.
Talwani was nominated by former President Barack Obama and Nichols was
nominated by Trump.
The new Postal Service regulations stem from an executive order Trump
issued earlier this year. Election officials say it would be impossible
to implement the changes this close to a general election.
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An election worker reaches for an unopened ballot during sorting at
the Clackamas County Elections office, Nov. 7, 2024, in Oregon City,
Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)
The regulations would require all ballot envelope designs to be
pre-approved by the Postal Service and that states upload the
identities of those who are to receive them into a still-inactive
online portal. Mail ballots already are being sent out in at least
three states — Alabama, North Carolina and Wisconsin — and more
states are preparing to distribute mail ballots this week.
A whistleblower report to Congress warned that millions of people
would be disenfranchised if the rule was allowed to take effect for
the midterms. The union representing U.S. Postal Service workers has
pushed back against the executive order, saying it is not the job of
postal workers to verify voter eligibility.
Mail balloting has long been a favorite target for Trump, who has
falsely blamed it for his 2020 loss to Democrat Joe Biden and
claimed it is a pathway to fraud despite his own use of the voting
method.
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