Friday was Judge Indira Talwani. Saturday is Judge Carl Nichols.
The Justice Department filed in Washington, D.C., hours after Talwaniโs preliminary injunction, and asked Nichols to reject a separate request from Democrats and voting-rights groups to block the same USPS mail-ballot rule. DOJโs word for it: โmodest.โ It said the rule does not displace a single state election law and โneed not and should not prevent a single voter from voting by mail.โ
Talwani, in Massachusetts, read declarations from election officials and said the opposite. Implementing the envelope, barcode, and federal-portal requirements two months before November 3 would force thousands of jurisdictions to reprint and upload into a portal that is not operational. She found no evidence of fraudulent mail voting that justified the rush. Disenfranchisement, she wrote, was โpractically inevitable.โ
Her order does not bind Nichols. He earlier declined to block the March executive order because USPS had not issued a final rule. The rule landed. The plaintiffs came back. DOJ came back faster.
Two courts, one mailbox
The administration already told Talwani it will take her injunction to the First Circuit. It has been to the Supreme Court on the earlier pause. Nichols is the second door on the same hallway.
DOJ warned that blocking the rule could create โmirror-imageโ chaos after the high court lifted earlier constraints. It compared ballot envelopes to other special mail โ including cremated remains. Election officials in about half the states plus D.C. told Talwani compliance before the midterms is likely impossible. USPS has said it can withhold noncompliant mailings.
North Carolina already started sending ballots Friday.
What this means for you
If you vote by mail, the envelope in your hand is still under Fridayโs order. If Nichols goes the other way, you get two federal answers in the same week. Mail early. Track the barcode. Do not wait for the last pickup.
Bottom line: Talwani blocked it. DOJ asked Nichols to let it run anyway. The first ballots are already in the truck.
GLHR NEWS explains the news. Not investment, tax, or trading advice. Do your own work before you act.
