The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday left in place a lower-court order blocking the Trump administration from enforcing new federal requirements on mail-in ballots before the November midterm elections, allowing states to continue using their existing voting-by-mail procedures.
The court’s action keeps the Postal Service from implementing a rule that would require states to provide lists of mail-ballot recipients and use USPS-approved outbound and return envelopes with unique barcodes. Ballots that did not meet the new requirements could have been rejected by the Postal Service.
The administration had asked the Supreme Court to lift the injunction while its legal challenge proceeded. Lower courts had blocked enforcement after states and voting-rights groups challenged the rule, arguing that the federal government lacked authority to impose the requirements and that states did not have enough time to overhaul their election systems before the midterms.
The Supreme Court’s brief emergency order did not fully resolve the underlying legal dispute. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, writing separately, said there was a “fair prospect” that the rule falls within the Postal Service’s authority, but agreed that state and local election officials “do not have sufficient time to reasonably implement the rule” before the 2026 elections.
Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented. Alito argued that the Postal Service “has broad authority to regulate the mail” and that the administration was likely to succeed in its challenge to the lower-court injunction.
The decision comes as election officials have already begun sending mail ballots in some states. Alabama, North Carolina and Wisconsin began sending ballots to voters in recent days, according to the Associated Press, while the new federal system was not yet operational.
Election officials had warned that changing ballot-envelope specifications and voter-data procedures so close to the election could disrupt established systems, particularly in states that rely heavily on voting by mail. The administration, meanwhile, has argued that the new requirements fall within the Postal Service’s authority and are intended to address election-related fraud.
The Supreme Court’s decision means the states can proceed for the November 3 midterms under the mail-voting procedures already in place. But the ruling does not finally determine whether the Postal Service has the legal authority to impose the new requirements, leaving that broader question for the ongoing litigation.
Trump has repeatedly criticized mail voting and sought changes to the way mail ballots are handled. His administration’s effort to implement the new Postal Service requirements has now been blocked for the 2026 midterms, although the underlying legal fight remains unresolved.
Muhammad Luqman is Associate Editor at Views News Now. He writes on wide-ranging issues including economy, South Asia, the Middle East, agriculture, economy and innovation. Luqman has worked some of the leading news organizations and won acclaim for his original and research-based works.
