In the slow, recurring contest over who gets to vote and how their votes travel, a new chapter opened this weekend as the federal government asked the nation's highest court to let a Postal Service rule take hold before the November midterms. A federal judge in Boston had already paused the rule, and her extension of that pause is what pushed the matter back up the ladder of American courts. Behind the legal filings lies a long-running argument about whether mail ballots are a safeguard or a risk, an argument shaped by a president who has questioned mail voting for years. The answer now rests
Trump Administration Asks Supreme Court to Revive Limits on Mail-in Ballots Before November Midterms
Twenty-nine states allow mail voting without a reason; eight vote entirely by mail.
Mark
Start with the basics. What exactly is the administration asking the Supreme Court to do?
Mimi
Let the Postal Service enforce its new mail-ballot rule right away. A Boston judge, Indira Talwani, has blocked it, and she extended that block on Friday. The administration filed again on Sunday.
Mark
What does the rule actually require?
Mimi
States must give the Postal Service lists of mail ballot recipients. Every outbound and return envelope needs a unique barcode. And the Postal Service could refuse to deliver ballots that don't comply or that belong to voters not on the lists.
Luke
Let me flag something. The refusal-to-deliver power is the part that matters most, but the reporting tells us what the rule allows, not how often or how it would be used. That's unknown.
Mimi
Fair. We know the authority exists in the rule, not how it would play out in practice.
Mark
Why a second emergency filing?
Mimi
The first one targeted her shorter-term injunction. Before the justices ruled, she extended the ban, so the administration filed a new application.
Luke
And the "confusion and chaos" line is Solicitor General John Sauer's argument. It's advocacy from one side, not a finding. The reporting doesn't say what the challengers argue.
Mark
What's the clock?
Mimi
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson set Wednesday for responses. North Carolina began mailing ballots Friday, and more states will follow.
Luke
One more caution: the story says the decision "likely" rests with the Supreme Court. That's an expectation, not a certainty, and we don't know when the justices will rule.
Mark
And the backdrop?
Mimi
Trump signed the executive order in March and has long pushed to restrict mail voting, though his claims of 2020 fraud are false. Twenty-nine states allow no-excuse mail voting, and eight vote entirely by mail.
Der Puls
- The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to lift a block on a Postal Service rule just as ballots begin reaching voters for the November elections.
- The rule would require state voter lists, unique barcodes on every envelope, and allow the Postal Service to refuse delivery of ballots that fail to comply.
- A federal judge in Boston extended her ban on Friday, prompting the administration to rush a new emergency filing to the justices.
- North Carolina has become the first state to mail its ballots, and other states are close behind, so the clock is running down.
- Responses are due Wednesday, and the Supreme Court's decision will determine whether the rule governs ballots already going out.
In the slow, recurring contest over who gets to vote and how their votes travel, a new chapter opened this weekend as the federal government asked the nation's highest court to let a Postal Service rule take hold before the November midterms. A federal judge in Boston had already paused the rule, and her extension of that pause is what pushed the matter back up the ladder of American courts. Behind the legal filings lies a long-running argument about whether mail ballots are a safeguard or a risk, an argument shaped by a president who has questioned mail voting for years. The answer now rests with justices who must weigh the disruption of changing rules mid-election against the claim that the rules themselves are needed.
On Sunday, lawyers for the Trump administration filed a new emergency request with the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the justices to let the Postal Service enforce a rule that could restrict mail-in ballots in the November 3 congressional elections. The filing followed a Friday order from U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston, who extended the block that keeps the rule from taking effect. The administration had already asked the Supreme Court to overturn her earlier, shorter injunction, and the justices had not yet acted when she extended her order.
Solicitor General John Sauer argued that each day the injunction remains in place risks "sowing confusion and chaos" as more states mail ballots. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson has set Wednesday as the deadline for responses.
The Postal Service issued the rule to carry out an executive order President Trump signed in March. Trump has long called for limits on voting by mail and has falsely claimed that his 2020 loss resulted from widespread fraud. Under the rule, states would have to provide the Postal Service with lists of voters receiving ballots, every envelope would carry a unique barcode, and ballots that fail the standards or belong to voters not on those lists could be refused delivery.
The stakes are wide, since every state allows some form of mail voting and twenty-nine let voters request a mail ballot without giving a reason. North Carolina began mailing ballots on Friday, and the pressure of the calendar is now the center of the dispute. Whether the Supreme Court lets the rule proceed will determine how the midterms are run.
On Sunday, lawyers for the Trump administration filed a fresh emergency application with the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the justices to let the U.S. Postal Service put into effect a rule that could limit mail-in ballots in the November 3 congressional elections. The filing came two days after a federal judge in Boston extended a block on that rule.
The judge is U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani. On Friday she extended a ban that keeps the Postal Service rule from taking effect. The administration had already gone to the Supreme Court once, asking it to overturn her earlier, shorter-term injunction. The justices had not ruled on that request when she extended her order, and that extension prompted the new filing. The final decision on whether the restrictions can proceed now likely rests with the Supreme Court.
Solicitor General John Sauer, who represents the administration, urged the court to let the rule go into effect immediately. He argued that every day the lower court's injunction stays in place "risks sowing confusion and chaos" as more states send out mail ballots. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson has set a Wednesday deadline for responses to the administration's request.
The Postal Service issued the rule to carry out an executive order President Donald Trump signed in March. Trump has spent years calling for limits on voting by mail, and he has falsely claimed that his 2020 defeat resulted from widespread voter fraud.
The rule has several parts. States would have to give the Postal Service lists of the people who are to receive mail ballots. Every outbound and return ballot envelope would have to carry a unique barcode. And the Postal Service would be allowed to refuse to deliver ballots that do not meet the new standards, or that are tied to voters who are not on the state-supplied lists.
The stakes are broad because mail voting is widespread. Every U.S. state allows some form of it. Twenty-nine states let voters request a mail ballot without giving a reason, and eight run their elections entirely by mail.
The calendar is already moving. North Carolina became the first state to mail ballots for the November elections on Friday, the same day Talwani extended her ban. Other states are following, which is the timing pressure the administration points to in its filing.
What to watch now is Wednesday's deadline for responses, after which the Supreme Court can act on the application. Its decision will determine whether the Postal Service rule governs ballots already going out for the midterms.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
Each day the lower court's injunction remains in place risks sowing confusion and chaos as more states issue mail ballots.— Solicitor General John Sauer, in the administration's filing
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