Overview
- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued a temporary stay on Friday that lifted a lower-court injunction and allowed the Postal Service to move forward with its proposed election‑mail rule while appeals continue.
- The proposed rule would require states to give the USPS lists of eligible mail‑in voters and to use specific USPS ballot formats and serialized barcodes with tracking before the agency handles ballots.
- Postmaster General David Steiner told senators the Postal Service would refuse to mail ballots for states that do not hand over the required voter manifests under the draft regulation.
- The NAACP has sued, saying the plan violates a 2021 settlement that required USPS to take extraordinary steps to ensure timely delivery of Election Mail, and a separate Massachusetts injunction remains in place blocking parts of the policy.
- The rule is not final and legal fights will continue through multiple courts, leaving open whether states will comply with manifest demands and how the dispute could affect ballot access and counting in the 2026 midterms.