Updated at 8:06 p.m.: After this story was initially published, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against President Trump on Monday and blocked the new mail-in voting rules from taking effect before this year’s midterm elections. The 7-2 ruling closed any uncertainty that the rules could still take effect. In an opinion blocking the rules, the majority said the government “is unlikely to succeed on the merits of its challenge to the District Court’s preliminary injunction,” in reference to the injunction from a federal judge in Boston.
A new set of rules that would have made it more difficult to vote by mail just weeks before the midterm election were blocked by a federal district judge in response to a lawsuit from the Travis County Clerk’s Office.
The opinion, filed in Washington, D.C., by U.S. District Judge Carl J. Nichols on Sunday, is the second time a federal judge has blocked the rules.
The requirements were set off by an executive order President Trump signed March 31, aimed at “reducing the risk of fraud and protecting the integrity of Federal elections” and adopted by the U.S. Postal Service less than three weeks ago.
The rules require the USPS to only deliver mail-in or absentee ballots to people enrolled on a “state-specific list” of eligible voters. All outgoing mail-in ballots must be placed in envelopes with new design requirements, including an official election logo and a unique barcode that can be tracked, among other specifications.
In his ruling, Judge Nichols said the rules pose an increased risk that “a significant number of otherwise appropriate absentee or mail-in ballots will ultimately not be counted in the upcoming elections.”
While citing Travis County Clerk Dyana Limon-Mercado, Nichols argued the rules will inflict “financial harms” on local governments. In the lawsuit, Limon-Mercado said that the county already spent more than $21,000 on mail-in ballot envelopes that would be considered noncompliant under the new rules and would need to spend an additional funds to be in compliance.
“I am grateful that the judge recognized the significant financial, logistical, and practical burdens these rules would have imposed on voters and election administrators across the nation,” Limon-Mercado said Monday in a press release. “Travis County will not stand on the sidelines or stay silent when rules threaten to burden or undermine our residents’ constitutional right to vote—whether they are voting by mail or casting a ballot in person this November.”