A U.S. federal judge in Washington has issued a ruling that blocks the United States Postal Service from imposing new delivery policies that conflict with a 2021 settlement aimed at ensuring timely handling of mail‑in ballots.
In his opinion, Judge Emmet G. Sullivan referenced a December 2021 settlement between the N.A.A.C.P. and the Postal Service, in which the agency committed to “prioritizing monitoring and timely delivery of election mail.”
Judge Sullivan, appointed by President Bill Clinton, wrote that the Postal Service’s proposal — particularly its restriction on mailing ballots to states that refuse to provide voter data to the federal government — violates that settlement, which is set to remain in effect through the 2028 election cycle.
He stated that former President Donald Trump’s executive order “appears designed to exert federal control over who may receive a mail‑in or absentee ballot in federal elections from the Postal Service.”
While a separate judge in Washington declined to halt the order pending finalization of new Postal Service rules, Judge Sullivan concluded that the agency’s proposal could be enjoined preemptively because it would breach the prior agreement.
Earlier, a judge in Massachusetts invalidated key elements of Trump’s order, including provisions that would have created voter eligibility lists and altered mail‑in voting rules, on the ground that election administration belongs to the states.
The N.A.A.C.P., which filed the original 2020 lawsuit amid a surge in mail voting during the COVID‑19 pandemic, warned that the new changes could exacerbate delivery delays and disproportionately affect Black voters, who rely on mail voting at higher rates due to systemic barriers.
“The proposed U.S.P.S. changes would have created unnecessary and unlawful barriers, in direct violation of the Postal Service’s mandate to prioritize election mail,” said Anthony P. Ashton, senior associate general counsel for the N.A.A.C.P. “Those barriers could have disproportionately harmed Black voters, who are more likely to rely on mail voting due to longstanding inequities in access.”
“Put simply, the use of mail‑in voting helps reduce voter intimidation at the polls and Election Day dirty tricks,” he added.
Postmaster General David Steiner has repeatedly said he will comply with court orders governing mail‑in voting.
The Postal Service argued in court filings that the court could not block its changes until those rules were finalized and that the changes lie outside the scope of the settlement.
The agency has not responded to multiple requests for comment following recent rulings that partially blocked Trump’s mail‑voting executive order and the Postal Service’s proposed implementation.
Under the 2021 settlement, the Postal Service agreed to adopt additional measures to expedite mail ballots for all even‑year federal elections through 2028.
William Hensley, a former election‑mail specialist at the Postal Service who helped craft those “extraordinary measures,” said they can involve extra delivery trips, authorizing local postmasters to pay overtime, and processing mail ballots locally rather than routing them through regional centers.
For the upcoming midterm elections, the Postal Service announced it will begin enforcing those measures on October 27, roughly a week before voters cast their ballots.