Trump administration appeals latest order freezing rule on mail-in voting

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s administration is appealing a federal judge’s temporary pause on a U.S. Postal Service regulation that places new restrictions on mail-in voting, according to a Friday court filing. 

The administration is headed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit to try to halt U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani’s temporary restraining order issued late Thursday that froze for two weeks an administration plan to carry out parts of an earlier executive order to limit vote-by-mail.

Talwani’s order in a Massachusetts federal court reinstated a pause she lifted after the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday handed a temporary procedural victory to Trump on his March executive order to curb mail-in voting. 

Democrat-led states and voting rights groups refiled lawsuits earlier this week to try to stop the administration from implementing a final rule that executes Trump’s executive order. 

They argue the rule impedes states’ power to administer elections, comes too close to the November midterms to be implemented and would disenfranchise voters that depend on mail-in voting. 

The administration says the rule will help secure elections, though it has not offered evidence that fraudulent mail-in voting is a major problem. The administration said in a Thursday brief the regulation did not affect election administration and dealt only with the federal mail.