A federal court granted a preliminary injunction today, siding with Oregon and a coalition of states and keeping the U.S. Postal Service’s mail ballot rule from taking effect while litigation remains pending.
“This ruling keeps Oregon’s elections exactly where they belong: in Oregon’s hands. Voters can trust their ballot to arrive the way it always has—securely, and on time—and their vote to be counted. This isn’t the last step, but we will keep fighting for Oregonians’ right to vote the way we have for decades.”
AG Rayfield and the coalition – 23 states, the District of Columbia, and the Governor of Pennsylvania – filed the lawsuit August 26. The lawsuit argues that USPS’s rule violates the Constitution, which makes clear that states have the primary authority to administer elections, and upends successful, longstanding vote-by-mail procedures. The lawsuit also argues the rule is inconsistent with USPS’s governing statutes, ignores USPS’s procedural requirements, violates the Privacy Act, and is inconsistent with federal voting rights law.
