A federal judge in Washington barred USPS from enforcing a June 2 rule that would have withheld ballot deliveries from states refusing to share voter rolls with federal agencies.
Judge Emmet Sullivan said the plan likely violated a 2021 NAACP settlement requiring USPS to take extraordinary steps to ensure timely election-mail delivery through 2028.
The restriction grew out of Donald Trump’s March executive order seeking sweeping federal changes to election administration, including new ballot procedures and voter-roll access for DHS and other agencies.
Last week, Judge Indira Talwani blocked the same mail-voting plan in 23 states and Washington, D.C.; Sullivan’s order appears to broaden that relief nationwide.
The NAACP and allied lawyers said the rule would have erected unlawful barriers for millions of mail voters, with disproportionate effects on Black voters who rely more heavily on mailed ballots.
Could new postal rules transform the USPS from a mail carrier into an election gatekeeper?
With federal rules blocked, how will states manage mail-in ballot security for upcoming elections?
What are the privacy risks of a national database for verifying every mail-in ballot?
Federal Courts Block Trump’s 2026 Mail-In Voting Crackdown: Landmark Rulings Protect State Authority and Voter Access
Overview
In March 2026, President Donald Trump issued an executive order to restrict mail-in voting, directing the Department of Homeland Security to compile state-by-state voter eligibility lists and enlisting the U.S. Postal Service to verify voters. While a federal judge initially allowed the order to proceed, the legal landscape shifted dramatically in June 2026 when federal courts, led by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Massachusetts, declared the order unlawful, null, and void. These rulings blocked key components of Trump’s plan, reaffirmed states’ authority over elections, and prevented federal agencies from interfering with state-run mail-in voting processes.