Federal Judge in Boston Blocks USPS Ballot Withholding Proposal
A federal judge in Boston blocked the U.S. Postal Service’s proposed rules responding to President Trump’s executive order on mail-in voting. The ruling, issued this week, prevents USPS from moving forward with a plan that would have stopped ballot delivery in states that refused to hand over their absentee voter lists to the federal government.
The Postmaster General made the stakes plain during a Senate hearing. Senator Gary Peters (D-MI) asked USPS chief David Steiner directly: if a state refuses to turn over its absentee voter list, would the Postal Service still deliver its ballots?
“Under our proposed regulation, no.”
David Steiner, U.S. Postmaster General, Senate hearing, June 2026
That answer put the proposal at the center of five active federal lawsuits. Challengers include nearly two dozen state attorneys general, Democratic members of Congress, and voting rights organizations. Their core argument is that the Constitution gives state legislatures and Congress, not the president, the authority to set federal election rules.
When Peters pressed Steiner on whether USPS even has legal authority to regulate who votes by mail, Steiner said he would “defer that to the courts.” The courts are now answering that question.
Trump’s executive order has not yet directly affected mail-in voting for this year’s primaries. The Boston ruling keeps it that way while litigation continues. But the legal fight over the order’s scope is ongoing, and courts have not issued a final ruling on the merits.
The constitutional question at the center of these cases is not narrow. If a president can direct the Postal Service to condition ballot delivery on state compliance with federal data-sharing demands, it would give the executive branch an indirect veto over how states run their elections. No court has upheld that theory yet.
What You Can Do Now
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Call your senators at (202) 224-3121 and tell them to oppose any USPS rulemaking that conditions ballot delivery on state voter-list compliance. Mention the Boston court ruling and ask them to support legislation codifying states’ exclusive authority over absentee voter lists.
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Contact your state attorney general and urge them to join the coalition of nearly two dozen AGs challenging Trump’s mail-in voting order. Find your state AG at naag.org/find-my-ag.
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Check your state’s mail-in voting rules now before the next election cycle. Use vote.org/absentee-voting-rules to confirm deadlines and requirements in your state before any new rules take effect.
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Submit a public comment if USPS reopens its rulemaking docket. Federal agencies are required to accept public comment on proposed regulations. Watch for a new comment window at regulations.gov and search “USPS absentee ballot.”