An Obama-appointed federal judge is being branded an "activist" after she again blocked new U.S. Postal Service (USPS) mail-ballot requirements ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. District Judge Indira Talwani issued a 14-day temporary restraining order last week blocking key portions of a new USPS policy governing the mailing of outbound ballots.
The rule, developed in response to an executive order from President Donald Trump, would require election officials to submit ballot-envelope designs for approval and upload voter information and unique tracking barc Jason Snead, executive director of the Honest Election Project, accused Talwani of trying to "run out the clock," arguing that the continued litigation could prevent the rule from taking effect before states begin mailing ballots for the midterms. "Because of the antics of the left in this case, it’s very possible that we will not be able to get this rule put in place for the 2026 midterms," Snead told Fox News Digital. "Ballots do go out in just a couple of days, and I think, to a certain extent, their campaign to run out the clock may have succeeded." MAIL-VOTING CRACKDOWN MOVES AHEAD AS TRUMP COURT WIN OPENS DOOR TO FEDERAL ACTION North Carolina county election boards are scheduled to begin mailing absentee ballots Friday.
Snead and Gregory Teufel, founder of OGC Law, LLC, both noted that election officials in the state had already taken steps toward complying with the USPS requirements. Talwani found that the states lacked the time and money to redesign ballot envelopes, obtain USPS approval, modify election-management systems, train officials to use the new portal and upload voter information before the midterms. She concluded that compliance was "practically impossible" for the approaching election and warned that eligible voters could be disenfranchised.
Snead pushed back on that conclusion, arguing that the rule puts longstanding USPS recommendations into mandatory requirements. "It’s a fairly straightforward rule," Snead said. "It’s largely premised on best practices that are already in place and gathering data that states already possess.
The burdens are extraordinarily minimal as far as compliance is concerned, and the Postal Service is really just trying to better regulate the mail—not attempt to seize control of elections or to take away fundamental constitutional questions, like who is eligible to vote, away from the states." Talwani’s June 25 permanent injunction barred USPS from completing portions of the rulemaking process for the 2026 election. FEDERAL APPEALS COURT REJECTS TRUMP BID TO ENFORCE MAIL BALLOT ORDER AHEAD OF MIDTERM ELECTIONS The dispute reached the Supreme Court, which stayed Talwani’s earlier judgment on Aug. 24 after concluding that the Trump administration was likely to prevail on its argument that the original challenge was premature because USPS had not yet issued a final rule. The justices did not decide whether the executive order or the subsequent USPS rule was lawful.
After USPS finalized the policy, the Democratic-led states amended their lawsuit to directly challenge the rule. Talwani then issued the latest temporary restraining order. "Ironically, the judge created that problem because her original injunction prevented the U.S.
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