Second Judge Blocks Trump USPS Mail Ballot Rule — SkimNews
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- Judge Carl J. Nichols in Washington, D.C. ordered a preliminary injunction late Sunday (Sept. 13, 2026), writing that without one, 'a significant number of otherwise appropriate absentee or mail-in ballots will ultimately not be counted.'
- The Supreme Court is already considering the administration's appeal of a parallel injunction by Judge Indira Talwani in Boston prohibiting enforcement before this year's midterms.
- The USPS rule, issued August 21, requires ballot envelope designs to be pre-approved by the Postal Service and states to upload recipient identities into a still-inactive online portal.
- Mail ballots are already being sent out in at least Alabama, North Carolina, and Wisconsin, with more states preparing to distribute them this week — election officials told the court the changes are impossible to implement this close to a general election.
- A whistleblower report to Congress warned that millions of people would be disenfranchised if the rule were allowed to take effect for the midterms.
- The union representing U.S. Postal Service workers pushed back, saying verifying voter eligibility 'is not the job of postal workers.'
- Nichols was nominated by Mr. Trump himself, while Talwani was nominated by former President Barack Obama, underscoring that the rulings cut across partisan lines.
Why it matters: With mail ballots already going out in three states and midterms weeks away, the legal clock is collapsing — the Supreme Court's eventual ruling will determine whether millions of mailed votes are counted or invalidated, putting voters in early-mail states like Alabama, North Carolina, and Wisconsin most at immediate risk.
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