USPS mail ballot rule amid Trump order

The U.S. Postal Service issued a new regulation on Friday night imposing new requirements for mail ballots, less than two weeks before some states begin sending them. The rule would require states to collect and report voter information tied to a unique barcode on each mail-in ballot and to submit voter lists to the Postal Service. However, the regulation will take effect only if the Supreme Court allows President Donald Trump's executive order restricting mail voting to proceed. A federal judge in Boston has frozen the order, and a second injunction from the same judge would prevent the Postal Service from implementing any procedural changes before the midterms. The administration has appealed to the Supreme Court to lift the injunction, but the high court has not yet acted. The first mail ballots are required to be sent to military and overseas voters from United States — North Carolina on September 4, making it virtually impossible for states to alter their ballot formatting in time. Democratic-run states and civil rights groups have sued to block the order, arguing that Trump lacks the authority to change election regulations, which the Constitution vests in states or Congress. Separately, the Justice Department announced plans to deploy about 1,000 election monitors for the midterms, as announced by Harmeet Dhillon, the top Civil Rights Division official.