Court temporarily blocks new USPS mail ballot rule

UPDATE (Aug. 28, 2026): A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking the U.S. Postal Service from implementing a new rule that could limit mail voting. Wednesday, New Mexico's attorney general joined 25 other states in filing a lawsuit over the new rule.

The temporary restraining order blocks USPS from requiring states to do the following:

• Obtain the federal government's approval of ballot and return-envelope designs
• Register for a new USPS portal for tracking voter information
• Input information for each of their state's voters into the portal

The New Mexico Department of Justice said the court found that it was "practically impossible" for states to comply with the new rule before the upcoming November elections.

It said states wouldn't have the time to make new ballots, update election systems, train election officials and upload voter information into a new federal portal.

The court also found the requirements didn't come with a deadline nor guaranteed a turnaround time for USPS's approval of ballot and envelope designs.

(KVIA) -- Wednesday, New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said he joined a coalition of 25 states filing a lawsuit against the U.S. Postal Service. They're challenging the USPS' new rule involving mail ballots.

On March 31, President Donald Trump signed an executive order asking to establish a national list of eligible voters and direct USPS to transmit mail ballots only to voters on the list. On Aug. 21, USPS announced a new rule implementing the president's demands.

The president tasked the USPS with compiling the registered voters into state-specific lists, the NMDOJ said.

In the lawsuit, the coalition asked the court to strike down the allegedly unlawful rule and issue a temporary restraining order preventing the rule from going into effect while the litigation proceeds.

The New Mexico Department of Justice argued that the USPS's rule will "prevent states from effectively administering their mail voting programs, putting voters at risk of being disenfranchised."

It also said under the new rule, the USPS won't deliver ballots to voters who don't appear on the USPS-generated lists and won't deliver ballots in envelopes that don't comply with the new rule's standards.

According to U.S. federal legislative information, access to the list will be limited to  "individuals whose official duties require such access," so a voter may not know they were excluded from the list until they don't receive a ballot in the mail.

“This new rule imposes sweeping burdens just three weeks before ballots must be sent to New Mexicans who are serving overseas in the military, and it requires collection of New Mexico voter data that raises serious legal concerns,” said Attorney General Torrez. "This action today seeks to preserve the established election framework and protect voters from unnecessary and unlawful interference.” 

Other states involved in the lawsuit include  California, Massachusetts, Nevada, and Washington, are the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania.