Second Judge Blocks Trump's Mail Ballot Order — SkimNews
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- U.S. District Judge Carl J. Nichols issued a preliminary injunction late Sunday (September 13, 2026) ordering the U.S. Postal Service not to implement Trump's August 21 executive order limiting mail balloting, writing that without a hold 'a significant number of otherwise appropriate absentee or mail-in ballots will ultimately not be counted.'
- The U.S. Supreme Court is already weighing the administration's appeal of a parallel order by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston, who was nominated by former President Barack Obama; Nichols himself was nominated by Trump.
- The Postal Service rule would require all ballot envelope designs to be pre-approved by USPS and mandate states upload recipient identities into a still-inactive online portal — steps election officials say are impossible to implement before the midterms.
- Mail ballots are already being sent out in at least three states — Alabama, North Carolina, and Wisconsin — with additional states preparing to distribute them this week, raising the stakes of any last-minute rule change.
- A whistleblower report to Congress warned that millions of voters could be disenfranchised if the rule took effect for the midterm elections, while the postal workers' union argued verifying voter eligibility is not the agency's job.
- Nichols had previously refused to issue an injunction in May, ruling the lawsuit was brought too early — the same reasoning the high court used last month to lift Talwani's earlier freeze, prompting plaintiffs in both Boston and Washington to refile after the rule moved forward.
Why it matters: With mail ballots already going out in Alabama, North Carolina, and Wisconsin and more states preparing to send them this week, the preliminary injunction preserves the status quo for the midterms while the Supreme Court decides whether Trump's order can ever take effect — a ruling that would either entrench or dismantle his push to rewrite mail-voting rules nationwide.
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