After reviewing the agency’s final plan to comply with President Trump’s demands, a federal judge barred the Postal Service from imposing new restrictions on mail-in voting.
In a filing on Thursday, the Postal Service denied that its proposal left any room for it to second-guess states on which voters were eligible to cast a ballot.
The order came amid a spate of legal challenges, including one by Democratic state attorneys general, that could still result in the rules being blocked.
Under its new plan, the Postal Service would not deliver mail ballots in states that do not share voter data with the agency and would deliver only ballots that meet certain criteria.
A preliminary Supreme Court ruling could leave voters confused about casting ballots by mail, even as President Trump’s executive order is being litigated in the lower courts, experts said.
The limits on mail-in voting may not go into effect by November, with a multistate lawsuit expected this week. But some states and experts warned about further voter confusion.
The administration asked the court to clear the way for President Trump’s order that creates “state citizenship lists” and directs the Postal Service to decide who gets a mail-in ballot.
The plan, which complies with President Trump’s executive order to curtail mail voting, will only go into effect if the Supreme Court rules in the order’s favor.