A federal appeals court on Friday handed the Trump administration a partial victory in its effort to overhaul how the U.S. Postal Service handles mail-in ballot delivery, lifting a lower court injunction that had blocked the rule from moving forward.
A three-judge panel on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously halted a district court order that had barred USPS from restricting delivery of mail-in and absentee ballots in states that refuse to hand over voter eligibility data to the federal government. The decision clears the agency to finalize the rule ahead of the November midterm elections.
The panel found the Postal Service made a “strong showing that they will likely succeed” in its argument that the proposed rule was “neither constitutionally nor prudentially ripe for review” and fell outside the scope of a prior settlement agreement reached with the NAACP. The judges also concluded USPS would suffer “irreparable harm” if prevented from implementing the rule before November, writing that there “can be no do over” once the election has taken place.
Postmaster General David Steiner confirmed earlier this month that USPS would not deliver mail-in ballots in states that decline to share voter data with the Trump administration, telling lawmakers the policy is meant to ensure the “right ballots are going to the right people.”
The change traces back to a March executive order directing USPS to propose a final rule by August 3. That order requires states to provide eligible voter lists to the federal government as a condition of mail-in ballot delivery.
The NAACP sued in late June, arguing the proposal violated a December 2021 settlement requiring USPS to prioritize timely delivery of election mail through 2028. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan sided with that argument earlier this month, ruling Trump’s executive order was “designed to exert federal control over who in the United States may be sent a mail-in or absentee ballot in federal elections.”
Friday’s appellate ruling reverses Sullivan’s injunction, but the underlying executive order remains separately blocked across nearly two dozen states under a ruling from a Boston-based federal judge. District Court Judge Indira Talwani found last month that the directive infringed on states’ authority to administer elections and that efforts tied to voter roll removal were unconstitutional.
The Trump administration’s proposed rule faces a final deadline of August 3 to be submitted. Whether it will withstand the remaining injunctions before November remains an open legal question.
