August 28, 2026 - OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued the following statement after the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts granted a coalition of states’ request for a temporary restraining order (TRO), halting core parts of the Trump Administration’s U.S. Postal Service (USPS) final rule which unlawfully attempts to interfere with states’ constitutional authority to administer elections. Yesterday, Attorney General Bonta joined a coalition of 24 attorneys general and the Governor of Pennsylvania in challenging the rule that requires state and local election officials to redesign and reprint their ballot envelopes, enroll millions of voters with USPS, and directs USPS to reject ballot mailings that do not meet these requirements, as directed by President Trump’s second elections-related Executive Order (EO) No. 14399. Nationwide, voting rights groups also sued to challenge the unlawful impacts on voters. The TRO, issued today in both cases, prevents core parts of the rule from being implemented or enforced for 14 days, while the court considers whether to issue a preliminary injunction that would allow states to administer the midterm elections unimpeded by these unlawful requirements.
Related: ACLU Reports Voting Rights Groups Move to Block Newly-Finalized Mail Ballot Rule, Seek Emergency Court Order to Block USPS From Implementing Mail Ballot Rule for November Election
“From the beginning, it’s been clear that President Trump doesn’t understand how elections work. He’s repeatedly broken the law, so we’ve repeatedly taken him to court,” said Attorney General Bonta. “On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an order on the emergency docket stating we brought our lawsuit too early but did not address the merits of our challenge to the President’s executive order seeking to impose additional, unlawful restrictions on the ability to vote by mail. Just two days later, consistent with that order, we sued to stop the illegal USPS rule in its tracks. Today, the district court blocked the rule, making it clear that President Trump must keep his hands off our elections. The right to vote is a foundational principle of our democracy, and we’re making sure it remains protected for everyone.”
BACKGROUND
Over the past several decades, voting by mail has become increasingly utilized by voters across the country — including President Trump. During the 2024 general election, nearly 1 in 3 Americans voted by mail. Since the inception of vote-by-mail, Congress has never exercised its authority to limit it and, in fact, has only taken action to expand and protect mail voting for military and overseas voters. Congress has also never authorized USPS to monitor or control the transmission of mail ballots. States — not USPS or the President — have the authority to regulate federal elections, subject to preemption only by Congress.
However, President Trump has been continuously attempting to exceed his authority and interfere with states’ ability to administer elections. On March 31, President Trump issued an EO attempting to establish a national list of eligible voters and directing USPS to transmit mail ballots only to voters on the list. The U.S. Supreme Court granted the Trump Administration’s emergency request to stay an injunction that had previously blocked key provisions of the order from being implemented for the November elections. The coalition states subsequently challenged the USPS final rule that came in response to the March EO. Today’s order halts — for a period of 14 days — USPS’s ability to force states to redesign ballots and enroll their voters with USPS for the upcoming elections, on pain of having their ballot mailings blocked. The coalition simultaneously asked the court to issue a preliminary injunction which remains pending.
Source: CA. DOJ
