Judge blocks USPS ballot limits before 2026 midterm elections
What's next: The Trump administration is expected to appeal after the ruling halted enforcement for the Nov. 3 election.
A federal judge in Massachusetts blocked the U.S. Postal Service from enforcing part of President Donald Trump’s executive order that tightened rules for mail-in voting ahead of the 2026 midterms. U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani issued a preliminary injunction barring USPS from applying Section 3 of Executive Order 14399 for the Nov. 3 election or any earlier federal contest. The order stops USPS from refusing to transmit mail-in or absentee ballots under the challenged provision and bars related rulemaking for November. Talwani had already blocked other parts of the order in June. On July 25, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals left that earlier injunction in place in a separate case brought by 23 Democratic-led states and the District of Columbia.