Weeks before US congressional elections, federal judge lifts ban on restrictions on mail-in voting

A federal judge in Massachusetts has lifted a nationwide injunction on mail-voting restrictions, temporarily paving the way for the Donald Trump administration to begin enforcing these restrictions ahead of the midterm congressional elections scheduled for November. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston came in response to a request by the Department of Justice to reconsider a prior injunction she had issued, following a recent Supreme Court decision that ruled a separate lawsuit—challenging a March executive order directing the Postal Service to implement new standards for mailing ballots—had been filed prematurely. The lawsuit had been brought by the Massachusetts Voters League and other voting rights groups, which are now seeking a new injunction after the U.S. Postal Service finalized its new regulations. The new rules, published in the Federal Register, require mail-in ballots to bear a unique identifier and barcodes that include the ZIP code, along with other specifications. The rules also require state and local election officials to provide lists of eligible voters before the Postal Service can mail out ballots. States led by Democrats have filed a new challenge against the regulations, arguing that they overstep state authority over their own elections and pose a risk of disenfranchising eligible voters.