Letitia James leads lawsuit against Trump administration over new mail-in ballot rules
TheGrio...
A coalition of states argues new USPS requirements unlawfully interfere with their authority to administer elections.
New York Attorney General Letitia James and a coalition of state attorneys general are taking the Trump administration to court over new federal rules that could change how millions of Americans receive and return mail-in ballots. The lawsuit comes just weeks before the 2026 midterm elections, after the Supreme Court lifted an earlier injunction blocking key parts of Trump’s mail-voting order.
Under the new system, states would have to provide the United States Postal Service (USPS) with lists of voters seeking to receive mail ballots. However, ballot envelopes would have to comply with new federal requirements, including unique Intelligent Mail barcodes. As reported by the New York Daily News, USPS could refuse to transmit ballots that do not meet the new requirements or are associated with voters who are not on the relevant lists.
James, joined by 23 other attorneys general, the District of Columbia and Pennsylvania’s governor, argues that the Postal Service is exceeding its legal authority and interfering with states’ constitutional responsibility to administer elections. According to Office of the New York Attorney General, the coalition is asking a federal court to block enforcement of the rule and ultimately declare it unlawful.
The latest lawsuit follows a rapidly changing series of court battles. On August 24, the Supreme Court lifted an earlier injunction against Trump’s executive order, finding that the states’ initial challenge was premature. Two days later, a federal judge lifted another obstacle to implementation, prompting the states to file a new challenge directly against the finalized USPS rule. A hearing on the renewed challenge is scheduled for September 3, leaving election officials with little time to adjust procedures before ballots begin going out.
At the heart of this fight is a question of who controls the mechanics of voting in federal elections. States traditionally establish the rules governing voter eligibility and the administration of their elections. James and the coalition argue that allowing USPS to determine whether a ballot can be delivered based on federally imposed lists and envelope requirements would give a federal agency a role that state law does not authorize.