Overview
- The Court denied the administration’s emergency request on Monday, keeping injunctions from two district judges and the 1st Circuit in force and stopping the Postal Service rule from taking effect before the Nov. 3 midterms.
- The rule would have required states to upload lists of intended mail‑ballot recipients to a USPS portal, submit envelope designs for agency approval, and place a unique barcode on each ballot envelope.
- Judges said the plan likely exceeds USPS authority and is logistically impossible to implement on short notice, with several states already mailing ballots and a whistleblower warning that a flawed portal could cause entire batches of ballots to be withheld.
- The Court was divided 7‑2 with Justices Alito and Thomas dissenting while Justice Kavanaugh concurred, noting a fair prospect the rule fits USPS authority but that immediate application would be arbitrary and risk chaos.
- Legal fights will continue on appeal after the election, with potential long‑term consequences for federal versus state control of election administration and for how agencies can impose operational rules on voting by mail.