Court Blocks Stricter Rules on Mail-In Voting in US

A federal judge on Friday once again blocked new US Postal Service (USPS) rules on mail-in voting that the administration of President Donald Trump had sought to implement ahead of the November congressional elections.

Judge Indira Talwani, sitting in Boston, ruled in favor of Democratic-led states and voting rights organizations. She held that only Congress may limit the authority of states to set their own election rules and that Congress has never delegated such authority to USPS. Its new rules were therefore unconstitutional, she said.

Under the rules, states would be required to provide USPS with lists of voters who received mail-in ballots, and ballot envelopes would need to carry unique barcodes. USPS could refuse to deliver mail that does not meet these requirements.

Talwani noted that implementing the changes just weeks before the election would cause chaos, and warned that the loss of voting opportunities would be virtually inevitable.

The Trump administration immediately appealed the ruling. USPS Postmaster General David Steiner said the agency had acted within its legal authority but would respect the court's decision.

(Reuters, lud)