Appeals court allows USPS to move forward with Trump's anti-mail voting order, for now

[hookaleft]

A federal appeals court Friday temporarily revived the U.S. Postal Service’s ability to move forward with a Trump-backed rule that could severely restrict mail voting ahead of the 2026 midterms.

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals granted USPS’ request to pause an order from U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan that blocked the agency from implementing standards and procedures in its proposed mail ballot rule while the case continues.

The rule stems from President Donald Trump’s March executive order attacking mail-in voting.

Under the proposal, states would have to send USPS information about voters who requested mail-in or absentee ballots, along with barcode information tied to those ballots. USPS would then use those lists to determine whether to transmit ballot mail.

snip>

https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/appeals-court-allows-usps-to-move-forward-with-trumps-anti-mail-voting-order/

These fuckers are not going to stop!!

Looks I will be going to the polls in person in California. A vote by mail state.

[dlk]

1. America's voting system is a disaster

It almost makes one believe we really don’t believe in democracy.

[underpants]

2. So the Postal Service gets to decide who votes?

They rigging this every imaginable way.

[AZJonnie]

9. More accurately, Trump gets to decide who can receive a mail-in ballot

He can't choose who votes, only who he's going to make it more difficult for. With this order, anyway.

Absolutely UNFUCKINGBELIEVABLE that ANY court would entertain this idea for one fucking second, let along go along with it.

[LisaL]

11. Somehow they found a court willing to entertain this idea.

NT

[Lovie777]

3. Colorado is completely mail in ballots?.....................

[LisaL]

6. I guess they better figure out what to do.

NT

[William Seger]

39. Yes, but we can drop them in secure boxes instead (nt)

[LisaL]

42. How are you getting the ballot?

If you don't get it mailed to you, what are you going to drop off into the secure box?

[William Seger]

49. Yep, I'm just referring to the current system. Actually, Colorado still does allow in-person voting...

... at a reduced number of locations, and it appears the backup plan is to expand those back to the number of polling places we had before.

[ananda]

4. I have been voting in person for a few years now.

It's Texas, and I want to see the paper copy of my vote
go in the machine.

[Lonestarblue]

35. You need to check that paper copy carefully.

In 2018, some voters who checked their paper printouts after making their choices found that their votes had been changed to Cruz, which they documented with photos. And now that a Republican friend of Trump owns the Dominion Voting Systems company, who knows whether he can and will have Dominion machines programmed to change votes as they appear on the paper ballots fed into machines for tabulation. We should not trust anything where Republicans have any influence or control over voting.

[ananda]

36. I do.

It's Texas.

[GoodRaisin]

5. The postal service will not be handling my ballot this year.

[Lovie777]

7. Maybe states can avoid mail in ballots and start using ...................

ballots that can be turned in at special election offices with proper voting codes. Eff the post office.

[LisaL]

8. How are they going to get these ballots without the post office?

If you have to pick up your ballots in person, and deliver them in person, why in the world would you want to do it instead of just voting in person?

[Fiendish Thingy]

15. The states may have to hire third party couriers or legislate some kind of state run courier service. Nt

[LisaL]

21. Third party couriers don't have the infrastructure to do this.

They don't have mailboxes, and so on.

[Fiendish Thingy]

26. Most states have drop boxes

And fleets of vehicles that could transport ballots to the tabulating centers.

The states could place drop boxes on the public sidewalks in front of every post office, maybe paint them bright orange or yellow.

It will be most difficult in rural communities, which will impact republican voters disproportionately.

It would be a Herculean task that would have to be initiated in the next few weeks, but there has got to be a plan B, don’t you think?

I would think Newsom, Pritzker, Hochul, Ferguson, Walz, Hobbs, etc. would already have staffers brainstorming about this.

[LisaL]

27. Again, how are the people going to get ballots to begin with?

USPS delivers the ballots to the voters first.
Even if there are drop boxes, if USPS isn't delivering the ballots, what is going to be dropped in those boxes?

[Fiendish Thingy]

31. That's what I mean by creating a plan B

The ballots are addressed by the state, all they need is a way to get them into the hands of voters.

Maybe distribute them at polling places? Schools?

SCOTUS already recently ruled against Trump on another mail in ballot case, so I’m hopeful for a positive outcome…

[LisaL]

32. States that vote by mail don't even have polling places.

Ballots are also different based on where the person lives (since many elections are local and depend on the person's address).
So none of this is going to work.

[Jack Valentino]

41. That's not true for the most part--- only a few states who do ALL mail-in voting

don't have polling places. Most of the states who have a mail-in voting option still maintain all their regular polling places, such as Michigan...

[LisaL]

43. Obviously I am talking about the states that only do mail in voting.

Not the states that have multiple voting options.

[spanone]

10. WTF?

[vapor2]

12. WTF can't the courts get on the same effn page?

[Fiendish Thingy]

14. It's part of the normal appeals process

A temporary stay pending appeal is not at all unusual.

[kentuck]

16. Can it be "temporary" until after the next election?

Or is there a time limit on the stay?

[Fiendish Thingy]

18. Courts tend to handle time sensitive election cases quicker than others

But SCOTUS doesn’t resume formally until October, although they have made emergency rulings during their summer recess.

[kentuck]

19. I don't think anyone wants to put too much faith in this Court...

They have been known to make some truly dumbass decisions.

[Fiendish Thingy]

24. They have, but have also ruled against Trump on a number of occasions

Including recently on birthright citizenship and the counting of mail in ballots.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/6/30/us-supreme-court-hands-trump-3-1-defeat-in-key-rulings-what-we-know

Just as with the counting of mail in ballots case, I believe the EO on mail in ballots contravenes both state and federal laws on who has the authority to determine whether someone may receive a mail in ballot, so if it gets a hearing in the next few weeks, hopefully there will be a final ruling by October.

[AZJonnie]

22. Okay, well, the article has some fairly scary-sounding verbiage in any case

The panel found that USPS had made a strong showing that it is likely to succeed on two arguments: that the NAACP’s challenge to the proposed rule is not yet ripe for review, meaning the court may have acted too early, and that the rule likely would not violate the settlement even if finalized.

The appeals court also credited USPS’ argument that leaving Sullivan’s injunction in place would prevent the agency from issuing and implementing a final rule before the November 2026 general election

I'm no lawyer as I'm sure you are, so if I may inquire with an expert: Is it maybe a mistake to pin all hopes on a victorious 2020 lawsuit by the NAACP regarding a matter that seems fairly distinct from this one in its nature?

Or can that ruling be expected to hold up as cause to block this one?

[Fiendish Thingy]

29. I'm no lawyer, I just read a lot.

Again, remember this not even a ruling for USPS’s argument to maintain the ruling, it is just a ruling from a higher court that found the USPS argument persuasive enough to grant a stay pending appeal.

SCOTUS did rule against Trump recently on the question of whether mail in ballots could be counted if received after election day, and it quoted state law in its ruling- that is the most hopeful sign I can find that this case will also be resolved that way.

[Fiendish Thingy]

13. Key word: temporarily

This is SOP for an appeals process, and shouldn’t surprise anyone who follows the courts.

The critical factor is the timing, and when it will reach SCOTUS.

Late September/early October seems the likely cutoff for a ruling to keep this from interfering with the midterms.

[LisaL]

25. October?

Let's say court rules USPS is allowed to do this. Then the states who vote by mail are screwed.

[Fiendish Thingy]

30. Which is why they must come up with a plan B NOW. Nt

[AZJonnie]

17. How the fuck is the USPS going to do this part: "use those lists to determine whether to transmit ballots"?

The USPS can't just figure this out on their own.

I strongly suspect that the way this will work is that the USPS will transmit the state's lists to the fcuking Trump administration, who will then run them through Grok (or similar), who will then use EVERYTHING it can find about every person, deduce who is going to vote for the GOP, and then transmit a list of those persons back to the USPS saying "okay, these are the people allowed to receive mail-in ballots, everyone else, don't send".

At least, nothing that I can find anywhere positively describes any mechanism by which what I describe above would be prevented from happening. In which case of course we're looking at a full-blown PRESIDENTIAL takeover (not federal, but presidential) of our STATE election processes (if it succeeds, which it better fucking NOT), in direct conflict with the US Constitution.

[kacekwl]

20. How does this make sense?

Some courts are seriously corrupt or incompetent.

[LisaL]

23. It makes no sense.

USPS shouldn't be deciding who gets to vote.
And yet here we are.

[Lifeafter70]

28. How does tha affect states that only vote by mail.

Is it so the federal government can get voter information that they have been denied?

[LisaL]

33. Obviously the states that only vote by mail are going to have huge problems.

Right now I would not trust post office one bit, because how in the world it is post office's job to decide who gets to vote? And yet somehow they think it's their job.

[Lifeafter70]

34. I agree they are a federal agency and elections are state controlled

Not understanding how the court allowed this.

[ecstatic]

37. Democrats already know what's up at this point

I really enjoyed voting by mail in 2020 but I don't trust it anymore thanks to trump.

tRump is an idiot and his efforts are going to hurt / block his own voters.

[JoseBalow]

38. I use the secure ballot drop-box at my local library

No USPS involvement whatsoever.

[LisaL]

40. How do you get this ballot to begin with?

I don't think it just magically appears in your possession, does it?

[JoseBalow]

44. Everyone in the state gets their ballot mailed to them in advance

Then they can fill it in and either mail it, drop it in a ballot box, or take it to a vote center. I also have ballot tracking, so I know when it is mailed to me, when it is received back, and when it is counted. I can choose to get a phone call, text, and/or email notifications that I sign up for.

I have mailed it back in the past, and I would get notified when the ballot was picked up, received, and counted. But I haven't used the mail in years, I just drop it off in the box when I go to the library, which I visit weekly.

But ya, every single voter gets a ballot by mail automatically, well in advance of election day so you have time to get a replacement if needed for any reason. And there is always plenty of time with early voting to drop it off at your convenience.

[LisaL]

45. Then USPS is involved in everyone getting the ballot.

How do you think people are going to get these ballots if USPS decides who is allowed to get them and who isn't? Isn't that what we are discussing here?
It's not just delivering the ballot to the board of election, it's delivering the ballot to the voter that is going to be affected. USPS apparently think they get to decide who is going to get the ballot.

[JoseBalow]

46. Oh, then yes, one would have to go vote in person I suppose

during early voting period up to election day at any vote center, if they didn't get their ballot in the mail.

[LisaL]

47. So in your state, every voter gets a mail in ballot, and you also have

unlimited vote centers? What state is that?

[JoseBalow]

48. I don't know what you mean by "unlimited"

but I am in California, and my county has many vote centers (33, I just looked it up) conveniently located in most communities. The closest one to me is a 4 minute walk away at a school. It would be a short drive in more remote parts of the county.