Attorney General Ford Co-Leads Coalition to Secure Yet Another Win in USPS Election Rule Case, Supreme Court Decision Ensures USPS Will Not Disrupt 2026 Voting by Mail

Carson City, NV - Today, Nevada Attorney General Aaron D. Ford has announced the Supreme Court has blocked a new rule by the United States Postal Service (USPS) that would have undermined vote-by-mail systems ahead of the November 3 midterm elections. Attorney General Ford, alongside the attorneys general of California, Massachusetts and Washington, co-led a coalition of 24 attorneys general and the Governor of Pennsylvania in challenging the rule. Attorney General Ford and the coalition secured a preliminary injunction in the case earlier in September, after which the federal government filed an application to stay the injunction with the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court denied the federal government's application today.

"I am proud that the record shows my office is a brick wall against President Trump's attempts to interfere with Nevada's democratic elections," said Attorney General Ford. "Today's decision ensures that the November election will not be disrupted by President Trump's political manipulation and that Nevadans can continue to vote in the way they best see fit without burdensome, unlawful interference from Washington. I will continue to successfully defend Nevada's sovereign powers over our elections, which are consistently free, fair and safe."

The decision to deny the federal government's application to stay blocks USPS from requiring states to obtain the federal government's approval of new ballot and return-envelope designs; register for a new USPS portal for tracking voter information (which is not yet operational); input information for each of their state's mail voters into the portal; and comply with other provisions.

With the November general election fast approaching, Attorney General Ford and the coalition argued the rule inflicts significant, irreparable harm on states by imposing burdensome mail voting requirements that would be virtually certain to disenfranchise eligible voters. In addition, the USPS's rule would have suspended successful, longstanding vote-by-mail procedures and violates federal statutes and the Constitution, which makes clear that states have the primary authority to administer elections.

The fight to ensure this damaging and disenfranchising USPS rule did not take effect has been ongoing for months. On March 31, President Trump issued an executive order directing the U.S. Postal Service to adopt new regulations that would prohibit USPS from transmitting mail ballots to voters who are not on a USPS-controlled list.

On August 21, USPS announced a new rule implementing the president's demands that require states to register every voter who is eligible to vote by mail with USPS and tasking USPS with compiling the registered voters into state-specific lists. The rule would have also established new design requirements for the mail-in ballot envelopes, which states are required to create and get approved by USPS. Under the rule, USPS would not have delivered ballots to voters who do not appear on the USPS-compiled lists and would not have delivered ballots in envelopes that lack USPS's approval.

On August 26, Attorney General Ford and the coalition filed a lawsuit to block the unlawful rule. On August 28, the court granted the coalition's request for a temporary restraining order, finding that compliance with the rule before the November elections was "practically impossible" and that it created a significant risk of disenfranchisement. The court then granted a preliminary injunction on September 4.

Attorney General Ford and the co-lead attorneys general of California, Massachusetts and Washington were joined by the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin, as well as the governor of Pennsylvania.

USPS v. California SCOTUS Decision on Application for Stay

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