A federal judge on Friday expanded his ban on the U.S. Postal Service implementing President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to limit mail-in voting during the midterm elections, putting another major hurdle in the administration’s path as the first states begin sending mail-in ballots. U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani’s preliminary injunction supersedes a temporary injunction she granted blocking the Postal Service’s plan. The Trump administration has already asked the Supreme Court to lift Talwani’s temporary order, and will likely appeal its latest ruling as well. But time is running out to make big changes to voting procedures. North Carolina began sending out its first mail-in ballots on Friday and more states will quickly follow. The legal battle could have major ramifications for this year’s elections, when control of Congress is at stake. Nearly a third of U.S. voters voted by mail, and election officials say there is not enough time to overhaul their systems to comply with new Postal Service directives. Talwani, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, noted the tight timeline for her ruling. “Plaintiff states are required under state law to send millions of ballots to voters in a prescribed time period. As detailed below, they cannot pivot this late in the election cycle, all but guaranteeing significant disenfranchisement of eligible voters,” he wrote. The White House did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. The order allows states to voluntarily use the new Postal Service system. To date, no state has announced they will do so. Sign up for the Ground Game newsletter: your guide to the biggest stories in American politics, policy and elections. Trump has long sought to limit voting by mail, although he himself often uses that method to cast his own vote. He has falsely blamed mail-in voting for his 2020 election loss, spreading unfounded accusations of fraud, but has so far been unable to change the long-standing voting procedure. An initial executive order Trump issued last year to change election rules, including requiring people to show documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote, was put on hold by federal judges. They determined that the Constitution gives the states and, in some cases, Congress the power to set voting procedures, not the president. After Trump issued his mail-in voting executive order in March, Democrats and voting rights groups filed several lawsuits. Two ended up before Talwani, who initially suspended the order in June, prohibiting its implementation until after November. But late last month the Supreme Court overturned that order. Its conservative majority deliberately did not say Trump’s move was legal, but found that the lawsuits were filed prematurely before the Postal Service issued its rule on how it would implement the order. The rule came to light just before the Supreme Court issued its ruling and the plaintiffs refiled their lawsuits.
