WASHINGTON — A second federal judge has ordered the US Postal Service not to implement President Donald Trump’s executive order limiting mail balloting, creating another legal barrier as the Supreme Court prepares to consider the dispute before the midterm elections.

US District Judge Carl J. Nichols in Washington issued the preliminary injunction late Sunday, according to the Associated Press. The order followed an earlier ruling by US District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston that also prohibited the Postal Service from enforcing the new rule. The Supreme Court is already considering the administration’s appeal of Talwani’s order.

Nichols wrote that the plaintiffs had shown an increased risk that otherwise valid absentee or mail ballots would not be counted if the rule took effect. The administration’s regulations would require ballot-envelope designs to receive Postal Service approval and states to upload recipient identities to a portal that was not yet active, AP reported.

The timing is central to the case. Mail ballots have already begun to move in at least Alabama, North Carolina and Wisconsin, while other states are preparing to distribute them. Election officials have argued that changing procedures this close to a general election would be difficult or impossible to administer consistently.

The order does not resolve the underlying constitutional or statutory dispute. It pauses implementation while the courts weigh the administration’s authority and the effect on voters. For now, the verified position is that two federal courts have blocked the Postal Service from putting the new restrictions into operation, while the Supreme Court has yet to decide the merits.

*Reporting note: this article is based on the source record listed above and is current as of 14 September 2026, 14:00 BST. Figures, operational claims and casualty counts may change as authorities update their accounts.*