Judge Blocks USPS Mail-In Voting Rule Before Midterms
The Spin
Anti-Trump narrative
Blocking this scheme was a straight-up win for democracy, and it took a Trump-appointed judge to say it out loud: the Postal Service has no legal power to rewrite how states run elections. No president gets to hijack an election by choking off mail ballots weeks before voters head to the polls. The Supreme Court should honor the Constitution and keep this rule dead.
Pro-Trump narrative
Basic ballot security shouldn't be too much to ask, yet judges keep torching commonsense safeguards that would stop untracked, unverified ballots from flooding the midterms. Barcoding envelopes and matching ballots to real voter records is exactly how honest elections stay honest. This courtroom lawfare is designed to run out the clock so November arrives with no accountability at all.
Narrative C
The ruling may be flawed, particularly in its reliance on an expansive reading of the "ultra vires" doctrine, but its timing could effectively decide the outcome. With ballots already going out and more states mailing them next week, the USPS may have little practical ability to enforce the rule anyway. That makes it increasingly unlikely the Supreme Court will grant the DOJ's stay application in time for the midterms.
