A federal judge in Washington has blocked the Trump administration's attempt to restrict mail-in voting by conditioning ballot delivery on state compliance with new federal requirements, dealing another legal blow to the president's election overhaul agenda.
Judge Emmet Sullivan of the US District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that a US Postal Service plan to withhold ballot delivery from states refusing to surrender voter rolls to federal authorities cannot proceed. The decision bars USPS from enforcing an executive order Trump issued in March that directed sweeping changes to how elections are administered across the country.
The postal service had proposed a rule in June that would require states to grant the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies access to voter lists and mandate adoption of new voting procedures. States that declined would lose mail ballot delivery service, effectively blocking millions of voters from participating in elections remotely.
Sullivan sided with the NAACP, which argued the postal service rule violated a 2021 legal settlement requiring USPS to take "extraordinary measures" ensuring timely ballot delivery. That settlement grew from a 2020 lawsuit when the civil rights organization challenged mail delays during the pandemic that threatened voting access.
The ruling extends nationwide an earlier injunction issued last week by US District Judge Indira Talwani, who blocked the administration's scheme in 23 states and the District of Columbia. Sullivan's order enforces the 2021 settlement, which binds the postal service through 2028.
Anthony Ashton, senior associate general counsel at the NAACP, called the decision "a critical step in protecting the rights of voters who rely on the timely delivery of mail-in ballots to participate in our democracy." He warned that the postal service's plan would have created "unnecessary and unlawful barriers" while disproportionately harming Black voters more likely to depend on mail voting due to systemic inequities.
Allison Zieve, director of litigation at Public Citizen, characterized the rejected USPS proposal as "unwise, unlawful, and a threat to the millions of voters who rely on mailed ballots to participate in our democracy."
This marks the second significant courtroom defeat for Trump's effort to curb mail voting in recent weeks, signaling judicial skepticism toward the administration's election restrictions.
Author James Rodriguez: "The courts are systematically dismantling Trump's voting restrictions piece by piece, and it's clear the legal bar for these schemes is proving far too high to clear."
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