Overview
- The Supreme Court on Monday, Sept. 14 denied the Trump administration’s emergency request to lift a lower‑court injunction, leaving the USPS rule paused while legal challenges continue.
- Two federal judges issued preliminary injunctions against the rule: Judge Indira Talwani halted key provisions on Sept. 4 and Judge Carl J. Nichols issued a similar block after challengers refiled their cases.
- The contested USPS regulation would have required states to upload voter‑specific mail‑ballot recipient lists to a Postal Service portal and to use USPS‑approved outbound and return envelopes with unique barcodes, with the Postal Service able to reject noncompliant items.
- Election officials, a USPS whistleblower and the postal workers’ union warned the portal and barcode system were not ready and could cause mass rejections, a risk amplified because states including Alabama, North Carolina and Wisconsin had already begun mailing ballots.
- The order keeps the rules from affecting the 2026 midterms but leaves open broader legal questions about federal authority over state election administration as appeals proceed and some justices signaled the issue could return to the Court later.