Attorney General Clark and Coalition Secure Court Order Blocking Postal Service's Unlawful Mail Voting Rule

Attorney General Clark and a coalition of 24 other state attorneys general have secured a temporary restraining order (TRO) from a federal judge, temporarily blocking a new rule by the United States Postal Service (USPS) that would have imposed burdensome requirements on vote-by-mail systems ahead of the midterm elections.

The order, issued in response to the lawsuit filed earlier this week by the coalition, temporarily blocks USPS from requiring states to obtain the federal government's approval of ballot and return-envelope designs, register for a new USPS portal for tracking voter information, input information for each of their state's voters into the portal, and comply with other provisions.

"The court's order affirms what we already know to be true: states have spent decades building secure, accessible, and effective systems for voting by mail, and the federal government's attempt to upend these systems just weeks before the election is unlawful," said Attorney General Clark. "We will continue to defend Vermont's constitutional authority to administer elections and ensure that every eligible voter can make their voice heard on Election Day."

The court found that compliance with the rule before the November elections was "practically impossible," noting that states do not have the time to redesign and produce new ballots, update state-administered election systems, train state and local election officials, and upload a massive set of voter information to a new federal portal.

The court found that these requirements created a significant risk of disenfranchisement, particularly because USPS's rule neither provided a deadline to the states for ballot and envelope designs nor guaranteed a turnaround time for USPS's approval of those designs. The court concluded that states face irreparable harm because many had already ordered their ballots, with some states required by state law to begin sending them to voters as early as next week.

The court also addressed the reasons the US Supreme Court stayed a prior order blocking the Trump Administration's related executive order, and determined that the states' case meets all the jurisdictional requirements the Supreme Court identified. The court then considered what the U.S. Supreme Court expressly did not: whether the Trump Administration, through USPS, has any role to play in regulating mail-in voting. The court concluded the states were likely to prevail in this new lawsuit because USPS's rule violates the Constitution and federal statutes.

More information on the lawsuit filed Tuesday against USPS by the coalition of attorneys general issue is available on our website.

Contact: Haley Sommer, Senior Advisor to the Attorney General, 802-828-31