Trump DOJ says states can handle last-minute mail voting overhaul, asks appeals court to lift block

By Yunior Rivas

Mailboxes are seen outside of a US Post Office in Washington, DC on August 17, 2020. - The United States Postal Service is popularly known for delivering mail despite snow, rain or heat, but it faces a new foe in President Donald Trump. Ahead of the November 3 elections in which millions of voters are expected to cast ballots by mail due to the coronavirus, Trump has leveled an unprecedented attack at the USPS, opposing efforts to give the cash-strapped agency more money as part of a big new virus-related stimulus package, even as changes there have caused delays in mail delivery. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

The Trump administration pushed back on a federal judge’s finding that states cannot realistically comply with sweeping new U.S. Postal Service (USPS) mail voting restrictions before the midterms, telling an appeals court that election officials’ concerns are overstated.

In an emergency filing Saturday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) asked the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals to stay U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani’s preliminary injunction, issued Friday, which blocked mandatory enforcement of the USPS rule through November.

DOJ argued that states facing the earliest deadlines for mailing ballots have not shown compliance is impossible. It pointed to North Carolina’s statement that absentee ballots would go out “flawlessly and smoothly,” and noted that Alabama, Florida, Indiana, Oklahoma and South Dakota have not argued they cannot comply.

The government also characterized some states’ complaints about costs and administrative burdens as ordinary consequences of complying with a lawful regulation. 

It told the appeals court that USPS has pledged implementation support and that the Federal Ballot Mail Portal — a key piece of the new system — will be functional “by next week.” 

Talwani reached the opposite conclusion Friday, finding that election officials across much of the country faced severe logistical obstacles, and that disenfranchisement was “practically inevitable” if the rule took effect immediately.

DOJ also asked the 1st Circuit to narrow Talwani’s injunction if it declines to lift it entirely. 

Citing the Supreme Court’s 2026 ruling in Trump v. CASA, the administration claimed the challengers cannot properly obtain nationwide relief. DOJ argued that the state plaintiffs cannot justify blocking the USPS rule nationwide because they are not harmed by its application in other states.

If the 1st Circuit accepts that argument, the restrictions could take effect in states that did not join the lawsuit while remaining blocked in the plaintiff states.