Days before voting in the midterm elections, a judge blocked President Trump’s mail-in voting rules for the second time.
Published August 28, 2026
A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration’s overhaul of election rules aimed at restricting mail-in voting for the second time.
District Judge Indira Talwani blocked the U.S. Postal Service’s new voting rules for 14 days late Thursday, hours after the agency announced they had gone into effect.
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The ruling is part of an ongoing battle sparked by President Donald Trump’s attempts to restrict mail-in voting, which is heating up in the lead-up to November’s midterm elections in which the United States will decide control of Congress and the Senate.
Nearly one-third of American voters vote by mail. The first ballots for the midterm elections are expected to be mailed out in about a week.
The new rules require states to submit approved voter lists and follow a new ballot format before the USPS can deliver them. The restrictions came into effect on Thursday after the Supreme Court granted permission.
Talwani said in a statement late Thursday that states “don’t have the time or money” to redesign ballots, update election systems and train employees on the new USPS portal before the next election.
The battle dates back to March, when President Trump ordered the Postal Service to withhold ballots unless states provided approved voter lists and new formatting rules.
Voting rights groups and Democratic officials filed suit, arguing that only states and Congress, not the president, can set election rules. Mr. Talwani agreed and blocked the rule over the summer.
On Monday, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority reversed an earlier decision on a technicality, saying the underlying legal challenge was filed prematurely.
Once the rule became official, Democratic officials and voting rights groups quickly challenged it, allowing Mr. Talwani to block it again with a late-night order.
Separately, attorneys general from 24 states filed a new lawsuit this week making the same core argument: only the Senate and Congress, not the president, have constitutional authority to set election rules.
A hearing on the refiled lawsuit is scheduled for Sept. 3, when ballots begin being mailed out. This schedule means that whatever Talwani or the higher court decides next could come into effect at the start of voting or after voting has already begun.
