US judge repeats block on Trump’s bid to limit voting by mail

Meanwhile, a United States federal judge has for a second time blocked the Trump administration's overhaul of election rules aimed at limiting voting by mail.

Key points

• District Judge Indira Talwani late on Thursday blocked the US Postal Service's new ballot rules for 14 days, hours after the agency remarked they had taken effect.
• When Trump ordered the Postal Service to withhold ballots unless states supplied approved voter lists and new formatting rules, the fight traces back to March.
• The ruling is part of an ongoing battle prompted by President Donald Trump's bid to limit voting by mail.
• A hearing on the refiled case is scheduled for September 3, just as ballots are set to go out.
• Voting rights groups and democratic authorities sued, arguing only states and Congress, not the president, can set election rules.

In practice, the ruling is part of an ongoing battle prompted by President Donald Trump's bid to limit voting by mail. It is heating up as the US heads towards midterm elections in November that will decide control of Congress and the Senate.

Almost a third of American voters cast votes by mail. The first ballots for the midterms are due to be sent out in regarding a week.

For context, the new rules require states to submit approved voter lists and follow new ballot formatting before USPS can deliver voting slips. The restrictions were enacted on Thursday after the Supreme Court cleared the way for them.

Talwani wrote in an official note late on Thursday that states "have neither time nor funds" to redesign ballots, update election systems or train authorities on the new USPS portal before the upcoming election.

Voting rights groups and democratic authorities sued, arguing only states and Congress, not the president, can set election rules. Talwani agreed, blocking the rules over the summer.

On Monday, the Supreme Court's conservative majority threw out that earlier ruling on a technicality, saying that the legal challenge on which it was based was filed too early.

Democratic authorities and voting rights groups swiftly refiled their challenge once the rules became official, allowing Talwani to block them once more in a late-night order.

Separately, attorneys general from 24 states filed a new lawsuit this week making the same core argument: that only the Senate and Congress, not the president, can have constitutional authority to set election rules.

For context, a hearing on the refiled case is scheduled for September 3, just as ballots are set to go out. That timeline means whatever Talwani or a higher court decides next could take effect as voting begins, or after it is already under way.

Taken together, the developments around US judge repeats block on Trump's bid to limit voting by mail point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.