Second Federal Judge Blocks U.S. Postal Service Mail-Ballot Rule

U.S. District Judge Carl J. Nichols granted a preliminary injunction blocking key provisions of the Postal Service's August 21 mail-ballot rule. The ruling found the plaintiffs likely to succeed in showing that no federal statute authorizes the rule's envelope-design, barcode, voter-information and outbound-verification requirements. Nichols said the changes could make voting by mail harder or effectively impossible for some voters, as states had already begun sending ballots before the November 3 election. The decision follows a separate Massachusetts injunction now before the Supreme Court.