California and a coalition of Democratic-led states filed a new federal lawsuit Wednesday to block the U.S. Postal Service from enforcing nationwide restrictions on mail-in ballots. The legal challenge targets a 95-page final rule issued by the postal agency last Friday, which implements a March executive order signed by President Donald Trump.
State officials argue that the regulations unconstitutionally infringe on state authority over elections, expose sensitive voter information to federal law enforcement, and threaten severe administrative chaos ahead of the November election. The complaint was filed in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts by 24 state attorneys general and the governor of Pennsylvania.
### Legal Strategy After Supreme Court Ruling
The fresh litigation arrives just days after the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a decision finding an earlier challenge by the states to be premature. In that Monday ruling, the high court determined that the prior lawsuit sought relief during a rulemaking process that had not yet required specific actions from the states.
The Supreme Court lifted lower court injunctions that had blocked the Postal Service from advancing Trump’s order, though the justices explicitly noted they were making no final determination on the ultimate legality of the pending rules.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta stated that Wednesday’s lawsuit forces the courts to address the legality of the regulations directly. Other challenges have also been filed by independent voting rights groups, Democratic Party organizations, and leading Democrats in Congress.
“This mail-in voting rule is an unlawful overreach that shows just how far President Trump will go to control elections, but as I’ve said before, this fight is far from over and we are confident that the facts and the law are on our side,” Bonta said.
Governor Gavin Newsom echoed those remarks, emphasizing the constitutional division of power over electoral administration.
“Donald Trump does not run elections. States do,” Newsom said. “And his latest attack on democracy is proof of how weak he has become. California will continue to lead the way in defending democracy — using every tool at our disposal and every minute in our day.”
### Postal Service Mandates and Data Sharing
Under the Postal Service’s final rule, states are required to submit lists of eligible voters, including names and addresses, to the agency. The rules also mandate the use of new ballot envelopes equipped with digital bar codes designed to allow the Postal Service to identify and reject ballots that do not match the submitted lists.
While the regulations do not grant the Postal Service direct authority to dictate which individuals appear on state voter rolls, the agency’s rule acknowledges that the shared data will be accessible to federal law enforcement. According to the postal standards, this data sharing places federal authorities in “a better position to identify any potential issues regarding compliance with federal law that may merit further investigation.”
President Trump’s March executive order additionally directed the Department of Homeland Security to compile separate state lists of eligible citizen voters using available federal data. These lists are intended to be compared against the mail voter files provided to the Postal Service to identify and pursue ineligible voters.
Trump administration officials have warned state election officials that they could face personal legal consequences if they fail to take exhaustive measures to prevent voter fraud, including voting by noncitizens. Election experts maintain there is no evidence of widespread fraudulent mail-in voting in significant numbers.
### Vote-by-Mail Context in California
The courtroom battle unfolds as California’s extensive vote-by-mail infrastructure undergoes heightened scrutiny regarding delivery times, ballot rejections, and vote-counting procedures. Roughly 80% of voters in California cast their ballots by mail.
An analysis by the Associated Press revealed that nearly 150,000 mail ballots were rejected during California’s June primary. More than 93,000 of those ballots were discarded because they arrived past the legal deadline to be counted, while others were rejected due to signature discrepancies or duplicate voting. The protracted tallying process has also spurred federal investigations into alleged election allegations within the state.
The states’ new lawsuit asks the federal district court for an immediate injunction to halt the implementation of the postal rules while the broader litigation proceeds.
