Judge again freezes Trump mail-voting rule, citing states’ constitutional election power

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani issued a two-week temporary restraining order blocking a Trump administration Postal Service rule restricting mail voting, days after the Supreme Court's procedural ruling let the administration briefly move forward. Talwani found the government had produced no evidence of the mail-voting fraud the rule claims to address, while voting rights groups and Democratic-led states showed voters would likely be disenfranchised in the Nov. 3 midterms if it took effect.

The Supreme Court's Monday ruling had said the states sued too early, before a final rule existed — but the Postal Service had already published a final rule the prior business day, a detail the ruling didn't address. States and voting groups refiled immediately once the final rule was public.

The rule would impose new envelope requirements, require states to hand over voting-age citizen lists for federal cross-referencing against citizenship data, and bar the Postal Service from handling ballots for anyone not confirmed eligible through that process. Trump has long asserted mail-voting fraud is widespread without producing evidence, and the administration has described the rule as an election-integrity measure while telling the court it is not attempting to take over election administration.

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