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USPS ballot-mail requirements are in active federal litigation

On September 4, the District of Massachusetts preliminarily enjoined specified mandatory USPS ballot-envelope, portal, voter-enrollment and non-delivery requirements for elections through November 3. On September 10, the First Circuit denied requests to stay that injunction. On September 13, the District of Columbia separately preliminarily enjoined USPS from implementing and enforcing the final ballot-mail rule. The government withdrew its earlier Supreme Court application 26A297 and sought a stay of the Massachusetts injunction in No. 26A305; the Supreme Court denied that application on September 14. These are interim orders, not final judgments on the merits. On October 16, the District of Massachusetts dockets in Nos. 1:26-cv-11549 and 1:26-cv-13917 each recorded a First Circuit judgment and mandate; the free official record does not include their text or show which appeal they resolve, so this alert does not describe their effect. The cited appellate and Supreme Court records were reopened October 19; lower-court proceedings and later orders still require monitoring.