Judge issues new block on sweeping mail-in voting restrictions

A federal judge on Thursday issued a new block on key pieces of the Trump administration's effort to restrict mail-in voting, finding that the latest rules risked disenfranchising eligible voters without clear statutory authority.

The order does not reverse every prior appellate or Supreme Court step in the long-running dispute, but it freezes specific federal directives that states and the Postal Service had begun to implement.

The ruling

Judge Indira Talwani wrote that the Postal Service appeared to be carrying out a "haphazard experiment" with procedures that could produce "major disenfranchisement" if left unchecked before ballots are mailed in large numbers.

The administration has argued that the changes are needed to reduce fraud and to align federal practice with state deadlines. Voting-rights groups and several state election officials countered that the rules would force premature rejection of ballots that arrive after arbitrary cutoffs.

Competing court orders

Earlier this summer the Supreme Court allowed parts of a related executive order to take effect while litigation continued. That decision left room for as-applied challenges, which is the path the latest district-court injunction followed.

Election lawyers say the patchwork of orders will force state officials to track multiple federal directives at once as they prepare for early voting and mail ballot distribution.

State response

Secretaries of state in several battleground jurisdictions said they will follow the newest injunction while seeking clarification from the Justice Department. Private voting-rights attorneys and Democratic attorneys general are preparing additional suits if further federal guidance is issued before Election Day.

Republican state officials who support tighter mail rules said they will continue to press for higher verification standards under state law regardless of the federal outcome.