The U.S. Postal Service was blocked-again-Thursday from implementing a new rule that would only allow the agency to send mail-in ballots to voters whose information has been shared with the federal government, though litigation over the policy remains ongoing, so it’s still unclear if it could take effect before the November midterms.

The Postal Service finalized a new rule last week based on President Donald Trump’s March executive order targeting mail-in voting, which requires the USPS to only mail ballots when states comply with new federal reporting requirements.

Court court orders have put it in and out of effect over the past week, with Judge Indira Talwani most recently blocking it for at least 14 days in an order Thursday night. The rule requires state and local election authorities to submit voters’ names and addresses to USPS through a new portal, and only voters whose information is submitted will be allowed to receive mail-in ballots, which will be sent in envelopes with special federal barcodes.

For related coverage, explore our detailed analysis on Technology and Digital Systems.

Rule Doesn’T Require Voters Updates

The rule doesn’t require voters to take any additional actions, but voting rights advocates have opposed the policy and sued over it in court, alleging it could disenfranchise voters The rule had previously been blocked in court, but the Supreme Court voted 6-3 on Monday to let it take effect-arguing the legal challenge against it had been brought too early, before the final rule came out-and Talwani followed Voting rights groups then filed an updated legal case that took aim at the final rule, and Talwani re-blocked the rule in a temporary court decision Thursday, which bars the government from implementing the policy for 14 days while the judge deliberates on whether to issue a more lasting court decision.

Talwani has scheduled a hearing for Sept. 3 in the case over the USPS rule, so she could decide anytime after that whether to continue blocking the rule or allow it to take effect.

Democratic attorneys general have also sued over the final USPS rule, but Talwani has combined their case with the one brought It’s possible the dispute over the USPS rule could go back to the Supreme Court a second time, now that the high court’s initial argument for allowing the policy-that the legal case against it was brought before the rule could be finalized-is now invalid, since the final rule has been published.

The debate over whether the rule will take effect for the midterms will likely have to be resolved swiftly, however, given that some states start mailing out ballots as soon as early September. Talwani noted Thursday that the USPS’s filings defending the new rule “lack any evidence regarding fraudulent absentee or mail-in voting,” despite the Trump administration using the specter of fraud to justify the new policy.

Event Usps’S Interest Correcting Updates

“In any event, the USPS’s interest in correcting an unsubstantiated problem through likely unconstitutional means is dwarfed The Supreme Court’s three liberal justices-Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson-dissented against their colleagues’ decision Monday to let the USPS rule take effect. Sotomayor argued she didn’t think it was too early to bring the legal challenge, penning a dissent that Kagan also signed on to, while Jackson argued the court’s ruling “needlessly injects chaos and uncertainty into the upcoming midterm elections” “States administering elections and the voting public that relies on them to do so deserve clarity, not caginess or confusion,” Jackson wrote, criticizing the majority’s “lack of situational awareness” “Taking its eye off the ball, the majority misses the Government’s actual objective: to secure our [approval] for its effort to foment chaos ahead of the November elections.” The rule requires states to submit lists of their voters requesting mail-in ballots to USPS ahead of an election, and imposes new policies to ensure only those voters whose information has been sent to USPS can receive ballots through the mail.

It also mandates the creation of new envelope designs and barcodes, which will make clear that ballots have been cleared through the federal system. It does not have any impact on which voters are eligible to vote The USPS has shared it will only process the information it receives from election authorities, and will not take any steps itself to verify whether the voters submitted are eligible to vote.

The rule requires election authorities to provide the federal government with a voter’s name, address, state and the barcodes that will be associated with their ballot. That information will be retained If postal workers find any ballots that haven’t complied with the federal requirements, they will be mailed back to election authorities and will not be delivered.

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Voters will not have to do anything differently if the new USPS rule takes effect: ballots will still be requested and sent out The new system of registering voter information with USPS has the potential to cause administrative issues and delays, however, so voters should be aware of the rule if it takes effect. (USPS has argued the rule “does not-nor is it intended to-facilitate any form of voter suppression, affect election outcomes, or target particular demographics, districts, or states.”) Mail ballots could get delayed: In her order re-blocking the policy, Talwani noted that election officials will not have much time to implement the new policy if it’s allowed to take effect for the midterms.

States “have neither time nor funds to design new mail ballots, seek approval of the new designs, order production of mail ballots, update their own election management systems, train election officials to use the USPS portal, and upload citizen data to the portal, all before the midterms,” the judge wrote. That means if the rule takes effect, there’s a good chance voters will receive their mail-in ballots late.

In a filing to the Supreme Court, election authorities cautioned the new processes around creating barcodes could be particularly difficult in rural communities with fewer resources, so those areas could face particular delays. Register for mail ballots early: Even if election authorities can implement it on time, there’s still the possibility of delays on USPS’s end as the new portal gets up and running.

The USPS rule requires election authorities to submit voters’ information to the federal government’s new portal That doesn’t mean all voters’ information has to be supplied Given that it’s unclear how long processing information through the new system could take, however, voters may want to request a mail ballot early to make sure there’s enough time to have their information cleared.

Some groups are more at risk: In court filings opposing the USPS rule, voting rights advocates have pointed out groups that are particularly reliant on mail-in ballots, like senior citizens and the disabled, could be at enhanced risk of disenfranchisement under the new system, given the potential for administrative issues. USPS and the Trump administration have shared postal authorities will not take any steps to verify voters’ eligibility, but some voting rights advocates have also expressed fears that people who may not be properly filed in government databases as being citizens-such as people who were only recently granted citizenship-could also face issues.

In a filing to the Supreme Court, election authorities also cautioned the new processes around creating barcodes could be particularly difficult in rural communities with fewer resources. Exemptions: The ballot reporting requirements do not apply to U.S. military and overseas voters who mail in ballots from outside the U.S., and also only apply to general elections, not primary elections.

If any states will decline to participate in the new system, should it take effect. While no states or localities have yet suggested they’ll do so, that would mean voters in those areas would not be able to submit any ballots through the USPS, and would instead have to rely on other voting methods, like in-person voting and ballot drop boxes.

Trump’s executive order directing the USPS to restrict mailing ballots comes as the president has long attacked mail-in voting, falsely claiming it’s more susceptible to fraud-despite regularly voting The controversy over the USPS rule also comes after the Postal Service became a source of controversy in the 2020 election, as former Postmaster General Louis DeJoy implemented widely criticized changes that resulted in mail delays.

That sparked accusations that DeJoy, a Trump ally, was intentionally trying to stymie mail-in voting, which he and the USPS strongly denied. DeJoy’s changes were eventually reversed in response to court challenges, and USPS took additional “extraordinary measures” ahead of the election to ensure ballots would arrive on time.

DeJoy has since been replaced as postmaster general Steiner has shared he will follow Trump’s directives on mail-in voting, but would defer to the courts regarding legal challenges.

Controversial New USPS Mail-In Ballot Rule Can Take Effect-For Now-Judge Rules (Forbes) Late Mail-In Ballots Can Be Counted After Election Day, Supreme Court Rules (Forbes) Postal Service Publishes Finalized Plan to Restrict Mail Ballots (New York Times)