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Courts

States Say Compliance With USPS Ballot Rule Would Take ‘Herculean’ Effort

In a Supreme Court filing, they say damage to the election outweighs the government’s fears about the possibility of voter fraud.

Supreme Court

The Trump administration has asked the justices to lift a lower court decision that has blocked key parts of the USPS rule through Election Day, Nov. 3. (AP Photo/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades, File)

By Adora Brown

September 9, 2026 06:34 p.m.

Nearly half the states and voting rights groups are warning the Supreme Court that it might be impossible to comply with a new U.S. Postal Service rule for the midterm elections.

Amid the Trump administration’s legal push to implement the rule, new filings on Wednesday from 23 states, the District of Columbia and voting groups stressed that the USPS has not developed key parts of the system that would heap additional work on state election officials.

“The efforts that state and local elections officials would have to undertake to even begin an attempt at compliance are herculean,” the filing from the states says.