The U.S. Supreme Court has blocked the Trump administration from implementing new Postal Service requirements for mail ballots ahead of the November midterm elections.
In an order issued Monday, September 14, the court denied the administration’s request to stay a lower court injunction that halted the rules. The court said the government was unlikely to succeed on the merits of its challenge and that the factors governing emergency relief did not favor lifting the injunction. Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented.
The Postal Service’s final rule would have required states to use ballot-mail envelopes meeting new federal standards, including specialized barcodes, and submit voter information through a Postal Service portal. Mailings that did not comply could have been returned to election officials.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul was among officials involved in the legal challenge. Raoul called the Supreme Court action “a victory for voters, for democracy, and for the rule of law,” and said the ruling prevents the requirements from taking effect shortly before the midterm election.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh, in a concurring opinion, said there was a “fair prospect” that the Postal Service has statutory authority to issue such a rule. However, he concluded that applying it to the 2026 elections would violate federal administrative law because state and local election officials do not have sufficient time to reasonably implement the requirements.
Alito, joined by Thomas, disagreed, arguing that the government had met the requirements necessary for the court to stay the lower court injunction.
The ruling leaves the injunction in place while litigation over the Postal Service rule continues. In Illinois, voting by mail and early in-person voting are scheduled to begin September 24th ahead of the November 3 election.