Maryland AG Obtains Court Order Which Halts New Postal Service Rule Threatening Mail-In Ballots

Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown, alongside a coalition of 25 states, has successfully obtained a temporary restraining order from the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, effectively pausing a new rule from the United States Postal Service (USPS) that would have imposed significant hurdles on vote-by-mail systems. The order prevents the USPS from implementing requirements that could have jeopardized the timely delivery and counting of mail-in ballots in the critical months leading up to the November 3 midterm elections.

The blocked USPS rule would have mandated that states obtain federal approval for ballot and return-envelope designs, register for a new USPS portal to track voter information, and individually input data for every voter eligible for mail-in balloting. The court’s decision acknowledged the practical impossibility of states complying with these demands in the short timeframe available before the elections. The judge highlighted that states would face insurmountable challenges in redesigning and producing ballots, updating election systems, training election officials, and uploading extensive voter data to the new federal portal.

Crucially, the court recognized the substantial risk of voter disenfranchisement posed by the USPS rule. It noted that the regulation lacked clear deadlines for the approval of ballot designs and provided no assurances regarding the turnaround time for such approvals. This ambiguity, combined with the fact that many states had already finalized and even begun the process of sending out ballots, presented an irreparable harm to election administration. Several states are legally bound to commence mailing ballots to voters as early as the week following the court’s order, making immediate compliance with the new federal requirements unfeasible.

The origins of this rule trace back to a March 31 Executive Order that aimed to establish a national registry of eligible voters, directing the USPS to transmit mail ballots exclusively to individuals on this list. The USPS announced its new rule on August 21, detailing the implementation of these directives. This included requiring states to register every voter eligible for mail-in voting with the USPS and tasks the postal service with compiling these registered voters into state-specific lists. The rule also introduced new design standards for mail-in ballot envelopes, requiring state adherence and USPS approval. Under the new rule, the USPS had indicated it would not deliver ballots to voters not appearing on these generated lists, nor would it deliver ballots in envelopes not meeting the specified standards.

The coalition of states argued forcefully that the USPS rule would inflict significant and irreparable harm by imposing burdensome new requirements on established and successful vote-by-mail procedures. Their lawsuit contended that these federal mandates overstep the clear constitutional authority of states to administer their own elections. The attorneys general involved, co-led by California, Massachusetts, Nevada, and Washington, along with representatives from Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaiʻi, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin, and the Governor of Pennsylvania, are now seeking a preliminary injunction. This preliminary injunction would halt the rule from taking effect while the broader legal challenge to its legality proceeds to a final court decision.

Article by Mel Anara, based upon information from the Maryland Attorney General’s Office

Video Spotlight