WASHINGTON (TNND) — With the midterm elections approaching, the Trump administration on Sunday again asked the Supreme Court to let new restrictions on mail ballots take effect before November.
The request seeks to lift U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani’s order blocking the Postal Service from enforcing rules tied to President Donald Trump’s mail-voting executive order.
WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 08: Attorney Indira Talwani testifies during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee January 8, 2014 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Talwani has been nominated by President Barack Obama to become United States District Judge for the District of Massachusetts. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
The proposed policy would require election officials to use federally approved ballot envelopes and upload voters’ names, addresses and ballot barcodes to a Postal Service portal. Ballots that do not meet those standards could be returned to election officials.
Talwani’s current 14-day block expires Sept. 10 and could be extended. She heard arguments Thursday on whether to halt the plan indefinitely but has not issued a decision. Talwani has said the challenging states are likely to show USPS exceeded its authority and that last-minute changes could prevent eligible voters from receiving ballots.
Solicitor General John Sauer said North Carolina has already started mailing ballots, Alabama is set to begin Sept. 9 and at least five more states will follow the week of Sept. 13. He argued that once envelopes enter the mail system, they cannot be retrieved, and that treating compliance as voluntary risks confusion.
WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 26: Dean John Sauer, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be U.S. solicitor general, prepares to testify during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on February 26, 2025 in Washington, DC. Sauer represented President Trump in his successful appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court that determined presidential immunity from criminal prosecution for all “official acts,” including his actions during the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Sauer previously served as solicitor general of Missouri from 2017 to 2023. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
The administration says the rule would prevent fraud and protect confidence in elections. Democratic-led states, voting-rights groups and election officials argue it is unconstitutional, intrudes on states’ election authority and comes too late for offices to change their systems.
The dispute began in March, when Trump directed USPS to establish the new ballot standards.
This is the administration’s third appeal to the Supreme Court; the justices have not yet ruled on the latest request or decided whether the policy is legal.
Nearly one-third of U.S. voters cast ballots by mail