Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell praised a federal court ruling issued Friday that halts new U.S. Postal Service (USPS) regulations on mail-in voting ahead of the November 3 election. The decision, handed down by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston, blocks the USPS from implementing changes that would have altered how mail-in ballots are handled nationwide.
The contested rules stemmed from an executive order issued by President Donald Trump on March 31, which mandated that states submit eligible voter lists to the Postal Service through an online portal and required ballot envelopes to include barcodes in order to qualify for delivery. Campbell and a coalition of attorneys general from 26 states argued that these requirements infringed on states’ rights to manage elections and risked limiting voter access by complicating ballot processing.
Judge Talwani’s 49-page decision grants a preliminary injunction preventing the Postal Service from rejecting ballots that fail to conform to the newly imposed standards or from refusing delivery to voters not appearing on USPS-generated voter lists. The ruling emphasized that the new regulations conflict with the statutory framework established by Congress and infringe on constitutional powers allocated to both Congress and individual states to oversee elections.
“The order protects our ability to effectively deliver mail ballots to all residents relying on them to make their voices heard in the November election,” Campbell said. She reassured voters that mail-in voting remains a secure and reliable method for participating in the upcoming election. Campbell further characterized the court’s decision as a necessary check on executive and agency overreach, stating, “Neither the President nor USPS has the authority to upend our election laws, and we’ll continue pushing back against this unlawful rule and defending the integrity of mail voting.”
The lawsuit challenging the USPS rule was filed on August 26 by a coalition of Democratic attorneys general, with Campbell co-leading the effort alongside officials from California, Nevada, and Washington. In addition to Massachusetts, several other New England states joined the suit, including Connecticut, Maine, Rhode Island, and Vermont. The broader coalition also included Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Virginia, Wisconsin, along with the District of Columbia and the Pennsylvania governor.
Prior to this ruling, a temporary restraining order had been issued, citing the impracticality of enforcing the new USPS regulations before the election and the potential for significant voter disenfranchisement. The case underscores ongoing tensions over the administration of mail-in voting amid the pandemic and efforts to expand voting accessibility nationwide.