Federal Appeals Court Rejects Trump Administration’s Mail Ballot Rule Appeal

Washington — A federal appeals court has declined the Trump administration’s appeal to lift a lower court’s decision blocking new mail ballot rules ahead of the midterms. This marks a significant development in a case that already reached the Supreme Court.

In a detailed nine-page opinion, a three-judge panel from the First Circuit Court of Appeals found the Trump administration did not prove that the U.S. Postal Service’s new rule wouldn’t cause disruption and voter disenfranchisement before the November midterms, as identified by a lower court judge earlier this month.

The appellate panel stated, “Indeed, appellants have not even seriously challenged this aspect of the district court’s ruling, much less demonstrated why it is clearly erroneous.” They added, “There is no record evidence of past fraud or a likelihood of impending fraud related to the November 3 election,” dismissing President Trump’s ongoing claims of widespread mail voting fraud.

The panel, comprising Judges Gustavo A. Gelpí, Julie Rikelman, and Seth Aframe — all appointed by President Joe Biden — emphasized that implementing the rule would “likely result in the disenfranchisement of millions of voters across the country while providing minimal gains in combating voter fraud.”

The judges also affirmed that the Trump administration had not justified a stay of the order. They noted a lack of strong evidence that the district court erred in determining the rule as likely unlawful. The district court’s findings aligned with the Elections Clause of the Constitution, which reserves the regulation of holding Congressional elections to states and Congress, not entities like the Postal Service, operating without congressional authorization.

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani recently issued a preliminary injunction preventing the Postal Service from enforcing the rule, leading the administration to appeal to both the First Circuit and the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has yet to rule on the request.

Talwani’s ruling noted the likely unconstitutionality of the Postal Service’s requirements and emphasized the significant voter disenfranchisement expected from last-minute regulation changes before the elections.

The contested rule outlines design requirements for mail ballots, mandates the use of unique barcodes, and requires an online portal for election offices to provide voter details. Non-compliant ballot mailings would be rejected and returned, according to Postal Service statements.

Over the weekend, the Trump administration made another appeal to the Supreme Court. Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued the need to halt Talwani’s “baseless injunction” and defended the rule as a lawful act of USPS’s statutory authority over envelope design and addressee information.