Justices Thomas and Alito dissent from one-paragraph order
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday blocked the Trump administration from enforcing new U.S. Postal Service rules that would have imposed additional requirements on mail ballots before the November midterms, in a brief, one-paragraph ruling.
The court said the Postal Service cannot enforce rules adopted last month that would have compelled states to redesign their ballot envelopes, submit lists of voters to the federal government, and obtain signoff from postal officials before ballots could be mailed to voters.
State and local officials argued the rules were unconstitutional and exceeded the Postal Service’s statutory authority. They also said implementing the rules before the Nov. 3 midterms would be logistically impossible, because many ballots had already been prepared and some states — including North Carolina and Wisconsin — had already begun mailing ballots to voters.
The Postal Service adopted the new rules at the behest of President Trump, who has frequently disparaged mail voting and said limiting the practice would help Republicans.
Nearly a third of American voters used mail ballots in 2024, and some states conduct their elections primarily by mail.
Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented from the ruling. The court issued its decision in a brief, unsigned paragraph without elaborating on its reasoning.