Boston court weighs blocking USPS mail ballot rules for midterms

A federal judge in Boston is set to hear arguments on Thursday over whether to extend a temporary block on new U.S. Postal Service requirements for mail-in ballots. The rules stem from an executive order issued by President Donald Trump and are scheduled to take effect during the midterm election cycle.

The hearing comes just a day before the first major wave of mail ballots is expected to go out to voters. North Carolina is scheduled to begin shipping ballots on Friday, while some municipalities in Wisconsin have already sent ballots earlier this week.

U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani previously imposed a 14-day restraining order preventing the Postal Service from enforcing the new system. That order is set to expire next week, and the court is now considering whether to issue a preliminary injunction that would keep the rules blocked through the midterms.

This is not the first time the matter has reached the courts. In June, Judge Talwani blocked the administration from implementing the executive order for the November election, ruling that the changes came too close to the vote. However, the Supreme Court later said that decision was premature because the Postal Service had not yet published regulations. The agency issued those rules shortly before the high court's ruling, prompting voting rights groups and Democrats to file new lawsuits.

Critics argue the president lacks constitutional authority to set election rules, a power reserved for states and, in some cases, Congress. They also warn that the new requirements could disrupt mail voting significantly. A whistleblower report released this week suggests the rules could result in millions of ballots never being sent. Under the new system, all ballots must be physically delivered to post offices before being mailed, and if a single barcode registers an error, the entire batch could be rejected, even if it contains tens of thousands of valid ballots.

Election officials say the directives would require a complete overhaul of their operations. The Postal Service would need to approve envelope designs and require states to upload voter lists to an online portal before ballots are delivered. That portal was still not active this week, and most election offices have already printed their envelopes and ballots.

The administration maintains that the changes are minor and legal. The government has already appealed the temporary restraining order, and the case is likely to return to the Supreme Court.

Trump has long opposed mail voting and has falsely blamed it for his 2020 election loss, despite frequently using mail ballots himself.