CNBC – 8/26/26
- A federal judge lifted the final injunction blocking President Donald Trump’s mail-voting order, allowing the administration to impose new requirements ahead of the November midterm election.
- The Postal Service rule requires states to provide mail-voter lists and use reviewed, uniquely barcoded ballot envelopes. About 30% of voters cast ballots by mail in 2024.
- Voting-rights groups amended their complaint to challenge the finalized rule directly, marking the third legal challenge targeting it.
- Neither Wednesday’s ruling nor the Supreme Court’s decision upheld the policy’s legality, and the challengers can seek new injunctions blocking the finalized rule.
A federal judge on Wednesday lifted the final injunction blocking President Donald Trump’s executive order restricting mail voting, clearing his administration to impose new ballot requirements weeks before the November midterm election.
The decision came as the policy faced a fresh wave of litigation. Democratic-led states filed a new lawsuit earlier Wednesday, while voting-rights groups amended their existing complaint to challenge the finalized U.S. Postal Service rule — the third legal challenge targeting it.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston vacated the nationwide preliminary injunction she issued earlier this month, concluding that Monday’s Supreme Court ruling in a related case required her to reconsider it.
The Postal Service had said it would not apply the rule to the 2026 elections unless both injunctions against it were lifted. That condition has now been met, and the new lawsuits do not themselves prevent USPS from moving forward. Read more
