Federal judge blocks USPS mail-in ballot rule in favor of NAACP
A Washington, D.C. district judge ruled that a Postal Service proposal to tighten mail-in ballot handling likely violates a 2021 settlement, granting the NAACP’s request for enforcement.
A federal judge in Washington, D.C. has halted a United States Postal Service proposal that would tighten rules on mail-in ballots, siding with the NAACP. District Judge Emmet Sullivan found that the rule, which would require states to submit lists of absentee voters and could lead to the return of ballots not matching those lists, likely breaches a 2021 settlement that obliges the Postal Service to prioritize timely delivery of election mail. He granted the civil-rights group’s motion to enforce compliance with the settlement, marking another setback for the Trump administration’s efforts to modify voting procedures ahead of the November midterm elections.
The contested rule also called for a new envelope design with specific logos and barcode placements, and threatened non-delivery of ballots that failed to meet the new standards. The NAACP argued that the measure would undermine the settlement’s requirement for “extraordinary measures” to ensure prompt handling of ballot mail, a point the judge echoed in his opinion.
"NAACP has plausibly suggested — and the Postal Service has not disputed — that the Proposed Rule is already having a ‘real impact on present day affairs’," Sullivan wrote.
The decision arrives as the administration’s broader push to limit mail-in voting faces multiple legal challenges, including a recent Supreme Court ruling that permits the counting of ballots received after Election Day if they were postmarked by the deadline. Civil-rights attorneys welcomed the ruling, describing the Postal Service’s plan as inconsistent with its duty to deliver election mail promptly.
"The court today correctly recognized that USPS’s plan to create roadblocks to mail-in voting was inconsistent with its commitment to timely deliver election mail," said Allison Zieve, director of the Public Citizen Litigation Group, which represented the NAACP.
"USPS’s plan was unwise, unlawful, and a threat to the millions of voters who rely on mailed ballots to participate in our democracy," Zieve added.
"Today’s decision recognizes that USPS cannot disregard its legal obligation to timely deliver mail-in ballots to all voters," said Sam Spital, associate director-counsel of the Legal Defense Fund.
The ruling underscores ongoing legal battles over voting procedures as the nation approaches the 2024 elections.
