A federal judge on Friday extended a block on President Donald Trump's executive order curbing the use of mail-in ballots, in the latest development in a fast-moving legal dispute ahead of November's midterm elections. Boston-based US District Judge Indira Talwani issued a preliminary injunction against the US Postal Service rule, replacing a 14-day temporary restraining order she had issued the previous week. The new order bars the USPS from carrying out a plan that critics argue would restrict the distribution of mail-in ballots to voters across the country.

Talwani, who had previously blocked a related effort on mail voting, found that the new Postal Service rule dictating how mail-in ballots can be sent is likely unlawful and unconstitutional. In her ruling, Talwani said election officials are unable to pivot this late in the election cycle, warning the rule would nearly guarantee significant disenfranchisement for eligible voters. She further asserted that the Constitution does not grant the president any specific powers over elections, rejecting the administration's underlying legal justification for the policy.

The case stems from a lawsuit filed by a coalition of Democratic-led states, who argued that under the US Constitution, states — not the federal government — retain broad control over the administration of elections. According to court filings, Talwani sided with states and voting rights groups who claimed the rule unlawfully usurped states' power to regulate their own elections, a change they argued would require congressional approval, and left officials facing an impossible timeline to comply before the November elections. She specifically noted that through the rule, USPS was refusing to send mail ballots to eligible voters unless states or local election officials submitted their mail ballot envelopes and received advance approval from USPS, without regard to the impending November 3 election deadlines. 

Also Read: Air India Introduces Voluntary Testing For Entire Pilot Fleet After Phuket Flight Crisis

Friday's ruling represents the latest twist in a legal battle that has already reached the Supreme Court once. The ruling came a day after the Trump administration again asked the Supreme Court to allow the restrictions to take effect, and on the same day the first mail ballots of the midterm election were sent to North Carolina voters. The Supreme Court had previously lifted an earlier injunction issued by Talwani after finding that challenges to the policy were premature because USPS had not yet issued a final rule, though the justices did not rule on whether the policy itself was legal.

USPS subsequently finalized its rule, prompting states and voting-rights groups to challenge the new requirements. Trump's executive order, which he has said was intended to ensure election integrity, directed USPS to develop new requirements for mail ballots, including standardized ballot envelopes and state-specific lists of voters receiving mail ballots. Under Friday's ruling, states can still choose to follow the new USPS requirements if permitted under their own state laws, meaning the injunction blocks mandatory federal enforcement rather than barring states from voluntary compliance. 

The dispute is expected to continue evolving in the coming weeks. The Trump administration has argued that a separate Supreme Court ruling undercuts Talwani's preliminary injunction, after the justices paused a different injunction earlier in the week on the grounds that states could not challenge the impending policy before the rulemaking process was complete, though the government contends that reasoning means Talwani should not have issued her preliminary injunction and should now vacate it. Talwani did not address the administration's argument regarding the Supreme Court's newest order in her ruling, leaving that question unresolved as litigation continues on multiple fronts ahead of the midterms.

Also Read: Mistrial Declared For US Mother Lindsay Clancy Accused Of Killing Her Three Children