Judge removes one hurdle for Trump mail voting order as states file new
challenge before midterms
[August 27, 2026]
By NICHOLAS RICCARDI and LINDSAY WHITEHURST
A federal judge on Wednesday lifted a major obstacle to President Donald
Trump’s executive order limiting mail voting, even as Democratic state
officials filed a new court challenge with the midterm elections fast
approaching.
The fresh round of legal wrangling comes just two days after the Supreme
Court handed down a procedural ruling in Trump's favor, and could mean
the issue lands before the high court again before the pivotal contests
for control of Congress. The first mailed ballots are set to be sent out
next week.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston agreed to lift an order
prohibiting the U.S. Postal Service from carrying out Trump’s order for
November’s elections. She wrote that she was “compelled” to do so after
the Supreme Court’s conservative majority ruled that a similar
injunction she granted in a separate case was premature.
Talwani nevertheless said the executive order could unleash “chaos” and
referred to it as “likely unconstitutional.”
The administration can now move forward and implement a Postal Service
rule published late Friday. It would require states to follow a uniform
envelope style for mail ballots and to give the Postal Service a list of
voters eligible to receive them.
A new chapter in high-stakes litigation
The new lawsuit, filed by about two dozen Democratically controlled
states against the U.S. Postal Service, marked a new phase in the
high-stakes litigation.
It came after the Supreme Court ruled against them in a separate case,
but did not say Trump’s order was legal.
The high court majority found the initial Democratic lawsuit was
premature, but that was before the Republican administration issued a
rule governing Postal Service delivery of mail ballots.
Election officials warn it will be impossible to implement before the
first wave of mail ballots are sent out next week.
“Across the country, states are already deep into preparations for the
2026 elections. Now, at the last moment, the federal government is
attempting to meddle in those preparations and potentially threaten
countless Americans’ right to vote,” New York Attorney General Letitia
James, one of 25 Democratic attorneys general filing the lawsuit, said
in a statement. “USPS has no authority to decide who can and cannot vote
by mail.”
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A worker sorts ballots at the L.A. County Ballot Processing Center
during the California primary election, June 2, 2026, in City of
Industry, Calif. (AP Photo/William Liang, File)
The Trump administration plan faces a third lawsuit originally filed
in May in the nation's capital, though courts there have so far
declined to block it.
All previous challenges were filed before the administration
published its mail ballot rule Friday night.
White House spokesperson Lauren Bis on Wednesday said the Postal
Service’s proposals were “commonsense measures that protect the
security of mail-in ballots” and that the administration would
continue to work to implement them to boost “the safety and security
of our elections.”
The Postal Service said it would not comment because of the pending
lawsuit.
National Democrats on Tuesday cited the rule in asking the federal
judge in the Washington case to block Trump’s order after he
declined to do so last spring, saying the administration at the time
had not taken concrete action.
In Boston, Talwani also found that the administration had violated a
separate injunction she had placed on the Postal Service in drafting
the new rule, although she did not take any action against the
government. The League of Women Voters originally filed that
lawsuit, and on Wednesday they also asked for a new court order
blocking the mail voting plan.
Voting by mail has long been on Trump's radar
Trump has long targeted mail voting, which he falsely blames for his
2020 election loss and is disproportionately used by Democrats as a
result of Trump’s condemnations. Since returning to power, Trump has
tried to claim authority over election rules, saying he thinks
Republicans should “take over” vote counting in Democratic areas.
He issued his first election executive order just months after
retaking office, attempting to require documentary proof of
citizenship to vote, among other changes. He has also been pushing a
sweeping election bill that has stalled in the Senate amid
opposition from Democrats and even some within his own party.
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