Judge Halts Trump’s Mail-in Ballot Order Nationwide

A federal judge has prevented the U.S. Postal Service from implementing an executive order concerning mail-in ballots. This decision came on Wednesday when President Donald Trump directed that ballots be transmitted only if states first provided a list of mail-in voters. Other requirements were also part of the order.

U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan ruled that the order violated a previous settlement agreement from a 2020 lawsuit between the postal service and the NAACP. The agreement oversaw the Postal Service’s practices related to ‘monitoring and timely delivery of Election Mail.’

Judge Sullivan stated in his opinion:

The Proposed Rule violates paragraph 2 of the Agreement because the Postal Service cannot post documents reflecting ‘practices and policies for prioritizing the monitoring and timely delivery of Election Mail’ if its policies provide that it will not accept ‘noncompliant mailing’ and therefore will not deliver mail-in or absentee ballots to some voters, and if it will not mail ballots to any voters in a state where the state ‘declines or fails to certify a list.’

Previously, nearly 25 states challenged Trump’s order this year. They were successful in stopping the postal service from acting on the order within their borders. Sullivan’s recent ruling, however, applies nationwide.

Additionally, a separate legal matter unfolded recently when an Obama-appointed judge stopped Trump’s efforts to prevent noncitizens from registering to vote. This case focused on Trump’s Executive Order (EO) 14248 from March. It aimed to establish a federal voter registration list and imposed new mail voting restrictions to tackle voter fraud.

Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, affirmed the commitment to secure the election process. She expressed confidence in the lawful protection of elections through Trump’s executive order.

Fox News journalists Ashley DiMella and Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.