US judge blocks rule implementing Trump plan to curb mail-in ballots

A US federal judge has blocked the US Postal Service from implementing a new rule that would tighten mail-in voting requirements. The rule was adopted at the direction of President Donald Trump. US District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston issued a temporary restraining order.

The order was issued at the request of Democratic-led states and voting rights groups. According to Talwani, the states do not have enough time or funds to implement the changes before the midterm elections. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for September 3.

The Supreme Court had previously overturned an earlier ruling by Talwani that had blocked Trump's order from taking effect. However, the high court's conservative majority did not rule on the legality of Trump's executive order. The new ruling places a 14-day hold on the government implementing the order.

Brief written by urgent.news from South China Morning Post, Associated Press — 2 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.