Less than 24 hours before North Carolina is set to mail ballots, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani said she would rule quickly on whether to extend her temporary order blocking USPS election-mail restrictions.
The Trump administration wants states to use revised ballot envelopes and upload voter names to a federal portal, with USPS refusing ballots whose barcodes do not match records; the Justice Department says it will seek immediate Supreme Court intervention if the block stays.
North Carolina officials have ballots ready but are holding off pending the court fight, while at least 10 other states are due to begin mailings within about two weeks and warn last-minute changes could force new envelopes and voter-data submissions.
A whistleblower letter alleged the proposed system could reject thousands of ballots in bulk if one envelope fails verification, reinforcing Democratic officials' warnings that abrupt rule changes could disrupt voting in states including remote Alaska.