Judge Talwani Stalls Postal Service Rules In Trump Mail Voting Case

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India-West News Desk

BOSTON, MA – US District Court Judge Indira Talwani has stalled the Trump administration’s executive order on mail voting, issuing a critical temporary injunction on August 27 to protect the upcoming midterm election procedures.

Judge Talwani issued a temporary order blocking the administration from enforcing its executive order for two weeks, right as election officials prepare to send out the first postal ballots for the midterms. This directive marks the second time Talwani has stalled the administration’s efforts, stepping in to protect a system relied upon by nearly one-third of American voters after local election officials warned that there was simply no time left to overhaul their procedures.

Her decision comes on the heels of a rapid sequence of legal maneuvering. After the Supreme Court’s conservative majority lifted a previous ruling by Talwani on procedural grounds, her court removed a second injunction. However, as soon as the Postal Service issued its formal rule detailing how state mail ballots would be handled, Democrats and voting rights groups refiled their suits.

In her latest ruling, Judge Talwani directly targeted the Postal Service’s demand that states provide voter lists and reformat ballot envelopes, explicitly ruling that states could not meet these requirements in time. She wrote that plaintiff states have neither the time nor funds to design new mail ballots, seek approval of those designs, order production, update their election management systems, train officials to use the USPS portal, and upload citizen data prior to the midterms.

By issuing this stay, Judge Talwani has prevented the new mail-in voting requirements from taking effect ahead of the upcoming elections. A hearing in her court is scheduled for September 3 and an eventual appeal back to the Supreme Court is highly likely, observers have said.