Judge again blocks Trump’s effort to restrict mail voting as ballots start going out

The move comes as the Trump administration is appealing a related order to the Supreme Court.

A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked a bid by President Donald Trump for the U.S. Postal Service to exert control over mail-in voting ahead of the midterm elections as one state begins mailing out ballots.

Boston-based U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani, who previously blocked a related effort on mail voting, found the new Postal Service rule dictating how mail-in ballots can be sent is likely unlawful and unconstitutional, prompting her to issue a preliminary injunction.

The rushed time frame being pushed by the administration will make voter disenfranchisement “practically inevitable” if the rule is allowed to stay in place, the judge found.

The “court finds, on one side, that immediate implementation of the Final Rule issued less than seventy days before the November 2026 election threatens disenfranchisement of millions of United States citizens who seek to vote by mail,” while “on the other side, that the record includes no evidence relating to fraudulent mail voting to support the rushed implementation of the Final Rule,” Talwani wrote.

She rejected the Justice Department’s request that she pause her order while the administration appeals, and noted that her ruling does not bar states that want to follow the new rules from doing do.