Court gives provisional victory to Trump in dispute over voting by mail
The decision opens a new judicial chapter on the rules of voting by mail, although the measure remains blocked in another court
Donald Trump's administration won a temporary court victory after a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., stayed a ruling that prevented the United States Postal Service (USPS) from moving forward with a proposal to tighten mail-in voting rules.
ABC News reported that the ruling, issued unanimously by a three-judge panel of the Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals, represents a preliminary endorsement of the government's position. However, the policy cannot yet go into effect because a federal court in Massachusetts has another order blocking its implementation.
What does the new USPS rule look for?
The USPS proposal calls for states to provide lists of voters authorized to cast their vote by mail and establishes additional controls for processing ballots.
During a hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Postal Service CEO David Steiner confirmed the scope of the measure. When asked by Democratic Senator Gary Peters whether the USPS would continue sending ballots to states that did not provide their voter lists, he responded: "Under our proposed regulation, no. We would tell the state that we need the manifesto."
The legal battle continues
The lawsuit was filed by the NAACP, an organization that had already taken the Postal Service to court in 2020 over delays in delivering ballots during the presidential election. Both sides reached an agreement in 2021 in which the USPS committed to prioritizing the timely delivery of election mail through 2028.
However, the appeals court concluded that this agreement does not prevent the analysis of the new proposal and considered that the lawsuit could be premature because the regulation has not yet been definitively approved.
The judges also noted that the Trump administration could suffer “irreparable harm” if the rule is not completed before the midterm elections. Even so, the litigation remains open and the future of the regulation will depend on new judicial decisions, so the debate on voting by mail will continue in the courts.