Attorney General Todd Blanche confirmed the administration will comply, leaving voting procedures unchanged across roughly 10,000 local jurisdictions for the Nov. 3 midterms.
The Supreme Court refused on Monday, Sept. 14 to lift the nationwide injunction against the Postal Service's ballot-acceptance rule. Absentee-voting rules stay unchanged for the Nov. 3 midterms. Justice Brett Kavanaugh noted that altering ballot delivery rules 50 days before an election would invite administrative chaos.
The reaction. Trump criticized Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett on Truth Social, calling the trio a “shell of their original selves.” The three joined the majority to reject the emergency stay, over dissents from Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.
The operations. The Postal Service reaffirmed it will not activate its planned Federal Ballot Mail Portal this cycle. Clerks keep processing ballots under pre-2026 standards. Alabama, North Carolina, and Wisconsin had already begun mailing general-election ballots before the Court acted.
Where it stands. Judge Indira Talwani's injunction out of Massachusetts stays in force through the election. The underlying challenge, brought by 23 states and Washington, D.C., goes to a full hearing on the merits.
Catch up
- Sept. 2 — Justice Department sued a 20,000-student Kansas City district over parental notification policies, launching a planned series of federal challenges.
- Sept. 8 — Justice Department redirected its civil rights election monitors to pursue voter fraud cases, seeking 1,000 monitors nationwide.
- Sept. 15 — Supreme Court voted 7-2 to keep Postal Service mail-ballot restrictions blocked after a federal judge found no statutory basis for the rules.
- UpdateSupreme Court leaves Trump's USPS mail-ballot rules blocked for Nov. 3 midterms in apparent 7-2 vote
7 earlier issues
- USPS violated a court order to finalize Trump’s mail-ballot rule; judge allows publication
- Judge clears Trump’s USPS mail-ballot rule; 24 states and D.C. sue hours later
- UpdateJudge blocks USPS from rejecting noncompliant mail ballots for 14 days; DOJ appeals
- UpdateMissouri asks the Supreme Court to reinstate its 7-1 congressional map three days before the ballot deadline
- Kavanaugh leaves Missouri's 6-2 map in place; hours later a federal judge orders the state to run the 7-1 map
- UpdateStates ask Supreme Court to keep new USPS ballot requirements blocked
- Update3-0 First Circuit keeps Trump mail-ballot rule blocked as 7 Republican officials oppose pre-November start
Why this ruling leaves election mail unchanged
- Portal inactive: the Federal Ballot Mail Portal required to authenticate county mailings was never launched, meaning processing plants have no new mechanism to enforce.
- Jurisdictional dissent: Justice Samuel Alito argued the lawsuit was brought in the wrong venue, noting postal statutes channel regulatory reviews to the D.C. Circuit.
- Future litigation: Judge Talwani's preliminary injunction carries no formal sunset, leaving the rule legally in place but dormant until a full merits trial.