2nd Judge Halts Trump Mail Ballot Order09/14 06:36

   A federal judge late Sunday ordered that the U.S. Postal Service not 
implement President Donald Trump's executive order limiting mail balloting, 
adding another obstacle to the administration's effort to rewrite election 
rules as the Supreme Court is poised to weigh in on the matter.

   (AP) -- A federal judge late Sunday ordered that the U.S. Postal Service not 
implement President Donald Trump's executive order limiting mail balloting, 
adding another obstacle to the administration's effort to rewrite election 
rules as the Supreme Court is poised to weigh in on the matter.

   The nation's highest court already is considering the administration's 
appeal of an order by U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani in Boston 
prohibiting the Postal Service from enforcing its new rule on mail voting 
before this year's midterm elections.

   Late Sunday, U.S. District Judge Carl J. Nichols in Washington, D.C., handed 
down a similar hold on the rule, which was issued Aug. 21.

   "Plaintiffs have demonstrated that, absent an injunction, there is an 
increased risk that a significant number of otherwise appropriate absentee or 
mail-in ballots will ultimately not be counted in the upcoming elections," 
Nichols wrote in issuing the preliminary injunction. "The public has a strong 
interest in ensuring that doesn't happen."

   Nichols in May had refused to issue an injunction because he ruled the 
lawsuit seeking one was brought too early. That was the high court's reasoning 
late last month when it lifted an earlier freeze by Talwani. But because the 
administration had just issued its rule to move ahead with Trump's plan, the 
plaintiffs in Boston and Washington, D.C., refiled their lawsuits.

   Talwani was nominated by former President Barack Obama and Nichols was 
nominated by Trump.

   The new Postal Service regulations stem from an executive order Trump issued 
earlier this year. Election officials say it would be impossible to implement 
the changes this close to a general election.

   The regulations would require all ballot envelope designs to be pre-approved 
by the Postal Service and that states upload the identities of those who are to 
receive them into a still-inactive online portal. Mail ballots already are 
being sent out in at least three states -- Alabama, North Carolina and 
Wisconsin -- and more states are preparing to distribute mail ballots this week.

   A whistleblower report to Congress warned that millions of people would be 
disenfranchised if the rule was allowed to take effect for the midterms. The 
union representing U.S. Postal Service workers has pushed back against the 
executive order, saying it is not the job of postal workers to verify voter 
eligibility.

   Mail balloting has long been a favorite target for Trump, who has falsely 
blamed it for his 2020 loss to Democrat Joe Biden and claimed it is a pathway 
to fraud despite his own use of the voting method.