Federal Judge Blocks Trump's Mail Ballot Delivery Order

A federal judge has issued a ruling that prevents the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) from executing President Donald Trump’s executive order regarding mail ballot delivery. The decision, made by U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan in Washington, D.C., asserts that the proposed order violates a settlement from a 2020 lawsuit against the agency.

Trump's directive sought to limit ballot transmission to states that provided lists of their mail-in voters and met specific requirements. This ruling follows an earlier decision from a Boston judge that blocked the Postal Service from implementing similar measures in two dozen states that challenged the order.

Judge Sullivan emphasized that if the Postal Service were allowed to enforce Trump's order, it would create an unprecedented federal role in the electoral process, potentially leading to increased scrutiny of voter data by Trump administration officials.

The ruling is rooted in a lawsuit originally filed by the NAACP in 2020, which challenged USPS policy changes that delayed mail delivery during the pandemic. A settlement reached in 2021 mandated that USPS publish guidance on prioritizing the timely delivery of Election Mail, granting the court oversight of the agency's actions.

Sullivan remarked that the proposed regulations would prevent the delivery of ballots that did not meet the executive order's criteria, thus violating the terms of the settlement.

Trump's order also included provisions for individualized barcodes on mail ballot envelopes for tracking purposes, a measure deemed beneficial for election administration but potentially burdensome for many jurisdictions due to associated costs. Furthermore, the order instructed the Department of Homeland Security to compile lists of voting-age citizens, raising concerns about possible aggressive voter purges.

NAACP President Derrick Johnson hailed the ruling as a significant victory against Trump's attempts to manipulate the electoral process, stating that it reflects a win for the people.

As of now, USPS has not publicly commented on the ruling.

Reported by HarborBeat based on WMAR-2 News (source).