Judge temporarily blocks new Postal Service rules for mail voting

Washington — A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked the U.S. Postal Service from enforcing its new requirements for mail voting for the November midterm elections.

The order from U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani is the latest development in the legal battle over President Trump's efforts to tighten the rules for mail voting ahead of the November elections. That fight escalated this week, after the Supreme Court halted a decision in a different case that had blocked the Trump administration from implementing provisions of an executive order that aims to restrict mail voting.

On the heels of that ruling from the nation's highest court, a group of two dozen states and the District of Columbia filed a new lawsuit Wednesday seeking to block the new rule from the Postal Service, published last week, that regulates mail voting for the upcoming federal elections. A coalition of voting rights groups also challenged the new requirements, which were issued in response to Mr. Trump's executive order.

The states and voting rights groups argued that Congress has not given the Postal Service the authority to set the rules for federal elections or mail voting. Instead, the Constitution gives states the power to administer elections, the challengers said.

For 14 days, Talwani agreed to halt enforcement of several key provisions of the Postal Service's rule for the upcoming elections, which will determine which party controls the House and Senate.