A US federal judge has issued a temporary restraining order blocking new US Postal Service mail-in ballot requirements, halting their implementation weeks before the November 3 midterm elections. The order came after a coalition of 25 states argued the rules could disenfranchise eligible voters and were constitutionally impermissible.

What the Court Blocked

The temporary restraining order prevents the Postal Service from enforcing requirements related to voter participation lists, ballot-envelope design standards, and federal approval of state election materials. The court found that complying with the rule before November 3 was 'practically impossible', according to the Arizona Attorney General's Office.

States would have been required to redesign ballot materials, overhaul election systems, retrain officials at the state and local level, and upload large volumes of voter data to a new federal portal — all within a compressed timeline. Notably, some states are legally obligated to begin mailing ballots as early as the coming week, and several have already ordered printed materials.

What Arizona's Attorney General Said

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, who joined the multistate lawsuit, announced the order on Friday. 'This is a win for every Arizona voter and the rule of law,' Mayes said. 'Arizonans have voted safely and securely by mail for decades. In a system designed by Republicans, at least three-quarters of Arizona voters choose to vote by mail. Today the court agreed that the federal government cannot upend our election system just weeks before ballots go out.'

The judge specifically flagged the absence of clear deadlines for Postal Service approval as creating a significant risk that eligible voters could be denied ballots altogether.

Origins of the Rule

President Donald Trump directed the Postal Service to develop the standards through a 31 March executive order aimed at strengthening citizenship verification and election integrity in federal contests. The order required uniform absentee and mail-in ballot requirements, including official election-mail markings, automation-compatible envelopes, and unique tracking barcodes.

The Postal Service formally published its final rule on 26 August after making it available for public inspection five days earlier. The agency said it had reviewed public comments from election officials, officeholders, postal unions, election organisations, and members of the public before issuing the regulation. It maintained that states would retain authority to determine voter eligibility and mail-ballot qualification.

The 25-State Legal Challenge

Mayes and officials from 24 other states filed their lawsuit on 26 August, arguing that the Postal Service lacked the legal authority to impose such requirements and that the US Constitution vests primary responsibility for administering elections with the states. The coalition is now seeking a preliminary injunction to block the rule until the court issues a final ruling.

The temporary restraining order does not settle the underlying legality of the rule — it preserves existing voting procedures while the judge considers the states' longer-lasting relief request. The rule applies to federal general, special, and run-off elections; it does not cover primaries, purely state or local contests, or ballots governed by military and overseas absentee voting law.

Broader Context

Disputes over postal voting have intensified since the 2020 presidential election, when Trump and his allies repeatedly questioned the security of widespread mail voting. Election officials have consistently maintained that safeguards — including signature verification, ballot tracking, and envelope-inspection procedures — protect the integrity of the process. Mail-in voting rules vary considerably across the country: some states automatically send ballots to all registered voters, while others require an application or a qualifying reason.

The court's next step — ruling on the states' request for a preliminary injunction — will determine whether the Postal Service's new framework remains frozen through the November elections and beyond.