U.S. District Judge Carl J. Nichols in Washington, D.C., late Sunday ordered the U.S. Postal Service not to implement regulations stemming from President Donald Trump’s executive order limiting mail balloting. The preliminary injunction creates a second federal barrier to the rules as the U.S. Supreme Court considers the administration’s appeal in a related case before this year’s midterm elections.
Nichols found that the plaintiffs had shown a heightened risk that eligible absentee or mail-in ballots would not be counted if the regulations took effect. The rule, issued Aug. 21, would require Postal Service approval of all ballot-envelope designs and require states to upload the identities of intended ballot recipients to an online portal that is not yet active.
“Plaintiffs have demonstrated that, absent an injunction, there is an increased risk that a significant number of otherwise appropriate absentee or mail-in ballots will ultimately not be counted in the upcoming elections,” Nichols wrote. “The public has a strong interest in ensuring that doesn’t happen.”
The Supreme Court is already considering the administration’s appeal of an order by U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani in Boston that also prohibits the Postal Service from enforcing the new mail-voting rule before the midterms. Nichols, who was nominated by Trump, and Talwani, who was nominated by former President Barack Obama, issued similar holds after plaintiffs refiled lawsuits in Washington and Boston.
Nichols had declined to issue an injunction in May because he concluded that the lawsuit had been filed too early. The Supreme Court relied on the same reasoning late last month when it lifted an earlier freeze imposed by Talwani. The plaintiffs renewed their cases after the administration issued regulations to proceed with Trump’s plan.
Election officials say the changes cannot be implemented this close to a general election. Mail ballots are already being distributed in at least Alabama, North Carolina and Wisconsin, while additional states are preparing to send ballots this week.