Washington, 14 September (H.S.): The US Supreme Court on Monday declined to allow the Trump administration to enforce a new US Postal Service (USPS) rule governing mail-in ballots ahead of the November 3 midterm elections.

The court denied the government's request to stay a lower-court injunction blocking implementation of the rule. In its order, the court said the government was unlikely to succeed on the merits of its challenge and that the factors required for emergency relief did not favour a stay.

The USPS rule would have introduced new requirements for states using mail ballots, including standards for ballot and return-envelope designs and a federal postal portal through which states would provide voter information. The rule also provided for USPS verification of voters before transmitting certain mail ballots.

The Supreme Court's latest action keeps the lower court's injunction in place for the 2026 elections. A federal district court had earlier barred USPS from implementing mandatory portions of the rule for elections taking place on or before November 3.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh concurred in the decision but said there was at least a fair prospect that the final rule fell within the Postal Service's statutory authority. However, he said applying the rule to the 2026 elections would be arbitrary and capricious because state and local election officials did not have sufficient time to reasonably implement it before the elections.

Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented. In their dissent, they argued that the government had made the required showing for a stay and challenged the basis on which the lower court's injunction was being maintained.

The dispute follows a series of court challenges to the administration's efforts to introduce new federal requirements for election-related mail. A March executive order had directed the Postal Service to undertake rulemaking concerning election mail, including ballot-envelope standards and procedures involving voter lists.

The Supreme Court's decision comes less than two months before the November midterm elections and leaves states to continue preparations under the existing mail-ballot arrangements for the 2026 election cycle.

Hindusthan Samachar / Indrani Sarkar