On Aug. 27, a U.S. district court judge blocked the implementation of federal rules that would carry out an executive order President Donald Trump (R) issued earlier this year prohibiting the delivery of absentee/mail-in ballots to anyone who is not enrolled by state election officials with the U.S. Postal Service.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani's ruling came after USPS filed the final rules implementing the executive order on Aug. 21. The rules require officials to enroll voters in a USPS portal in order for them to receive a mail ballot. The physical ballot mail must also meet set standards and contain certain information, such as a unique ID number for each ballot envelope.
Talwani previously issued two injunctions blocking the implementation of portions of the order. But the U.S. Supreme Court stayed one of those two rulings, which had blocked two parts of the executive order in 23 states and the District of Columbia. In light of the Supreme Court's decision, Talwani then dissolved a separate injunction issued earlier in August that blocked the order from taking effect nationally.
