By Hank Russell
A federal judge sided with Attorney General Letitia James, granting her a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the Trump administration and the United States Postal Service (USPS) regarding the administration’s restrictions on mail-in voting.
On March 31, President Donald Trump issued an executive order that he said would preserve election integrity by preventing non-U.S. citizens from voting. Part of the executive order calls for the USPS to design envelopes explicitly showing that they are being used for mail-in voting and to place a unique barcode on each envelope so that the ballots can be tracked.
James joined 23 other attorneys general in a lawsuit filed at the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts on August 26, arguing that the USPS did not have the authority to oversee mail-in ballots for the federal election. The next day, on August 27, District Judge Indira Talwani granted James the TRO.
In her decision, Talwani ordered the USPS “may take no further preparatory steps or implement in any way for elections occurring before or on November 3, 2026.” She also dismissed the defendants’ election integrity argument, writing, “The record continues to lack any evidence regarding fraudulent absentee or mail-in voting. … In any event, the USPS’s interest in correcting an unsubstantiated problem through likely unconstitutional means is dwarfed by the overwhelming risk of pervasive disenfranchisement of citizens who need access to mail ballots in order to vote. The balance of harms and public interest warrants a TRO.”
James praised the decision and derided the USPS rule. “This rule is a clear attempt by the federal government to interfere in elections it has no power to control,” she said. “Today, a federal court halted it before this administration could wreak havoc on our elections.”
She also said that the post office “does not have the authority to decide who can and cannot vote by mail. My office will keep fighting to ensure this rule cannot disrupt our midterm elections.”
Long Island Life & Politics reached out to the White House for comment. “Last week, the Supreme Court reversed this same activist judge’s ruling attempting to stop President Trump from implementing commonsense measures to protect the security of mail-in ballots and ensure only Americans vote in American elections,” White House spokesperson Lauren Bis said. “We will immediately appeal this unreasoned and unlawful order.”