U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani blocked the Trump administration’s plan to use the Postal Service to restrict mail-in voting ahead of the 2026 midterms, issuing a 14-day temporary restraining order on August 27 that prevents USPS from enforcing key provisions of its new rule.
Talwani, a Massachusetts-based federal judge appointed by President Barack Obama in 2014, found that the administration’s plan would impose onerous new requirements on states without enough time to implement them before the November elections. She called the regulation “a likely unconstitutional regulation for which compliance is practically impossible as to the 2026 midterm elections, now little more than two months away.”
The blocked provisions include mandatory ballot-envelope standards, return-envelope standards, a USPS portal registration system, voter-enrollment requirements, and ballot-mail rejection rules. Talwani found that many states have already ordered mail ballots, some must send ballots to eligible voters as early as the following week, and election officials lack the time and money to redesign envelopes, get USPS approval, update systems, train officials, and upload voter data before the midterms.
In her order, Talwani noted that “the record continues to lack any evidence regarding fraudulent absentee or mail-in voting,” directly addressing the administration’s justification for the restrictions. She concluded that USPS’s interest in addressing an “unsubstantiated problem” is outweighed by the risk of widespread disenfranchisement.
A Reversal After Supreme Court Cleared the Way
The ruling represents a dramatic reversal just days after the Supreme Court cleared the way for Trump’s mail voting order. On August 24, the Supreme Court lifted an earlier injunction that had blocked parts of the order, concluding that the initial lawsuit had been filed prematurely—before the Postal Service finalized its rule. The court found that it should review final rules, not proposed rules or internal executive directives.
But when the Postal Service finalized its regulation on mail-in ballots, a coalition of Democratic-led states and voting rights organizations filed new lawsuits challenging the plan. Talwani seized on that distinction, writing that “now that the USPS has published the Final Rule, Plaintiffs’ challenges are ripe.” The judge found that the states and voting rights groups are likely to succeed on claims that USPS lacked authority to issue the rule and that the rule unconstitutionally imposes new requirements on states.
The Trump administration is certain to appeal Talwani’s latest decision. Earlier in the legal battle, the administration argued that the Postal Service would not determine voter eligibility, ballot content, or ballot-counting procedures. “The Rule does not displace a single State election law,” the Justice Department contended in court filings. “And it need not and should not prevent a single voter from voting by mail.”
Talwani has been the sole judge assigned to all three related challenges to President Trump’s mail-voting executive order, which he signed on March 31, 2026. The order directed the Postal Service to propose new restrictions on mail ballots and sought to create a federal voter list. The judge’s repeated blocks signal the courts’ skepticism about whether the administration can implement such sweeping changes before the November midterms without disrupting the election process.
Sources
- Politico — reported Talwani’s ruling that the administration’s plan would impose onerous requirements on states with insufficient time to comply
- Democracy Docket — detailed the 14-day temporary restraining order, blocked provisions, and Talwani’s findings on irreparable harm and lack of evidence of mail voting fraud
- KCRA — confirmed that Talwani again blocked Trump’s executive order seeking to limit mail voting in the midterm elections
- U.S. Courts, District of Massachusetts — provided biographical information on Judge Indira Talwani and her appointment by President Barack Obama in 2014
