Breaking News · Sep 3, 2026Judge: “I Have Nothing” from USPS That Mail-Vote Portal Will Work

KEMETIC MINDS — BREAKING NEWS
September 03, 2026

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A Justice Department lawyer representing the U.S. Postal Service could not tell a federal judge Thursday whether a new system to regulate mail ballots at President Donald Trump’s direction was operational, one day before ballots begin going out for the midterm elections ^[1][2]. U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani, presiding in Boston, is considering whether to extend her temporary order barring the Postal Service from requiring use of the system through Sept. 10 ^[1].

Key Facts

• The first state to send out all its mail ballots, North Carolina, is scheduled to begin shipping them Friday, with other states quickly following ^[1][2].
• The plan’s key piece is an online portal that would track tens of millions of mail ballots; states would be required to upload their lists of mail voters to the portal to have ballots delivered, and if the data there did not match what was on the envelopes, the ballots would not be sent ^[1][2].
• Talwani repeatedly questioned Justice Department attorney Michael Velchik about whether the Postal Service could actually implement Trump’s plan from an executive order he issued last spring ^[1][2].
• Velchik said the Postal Service would fully implement the rule that it published last month, but he could not state Thursday that a program was ready to go ^[1][2].
• Velchik warned that the administration would shortly go to the Supreme Court to get permission to resume implementing the plan ^[1][2].

Judge Presses the Government on Readiness

“I don’t even have a declaration from the Postal Service: ‘This is how it will work.’ I don’t have it. I have nothing,” Talwani said, adding later that it felt like the government was running an “experiment” to see if the system would work in the upcoming election ^[1][2].

“As you sit here today, you can’t tell me the government has a program ready to go?” the judge asked ^[1][2]. Velchik responded that the Postal Service would “fully implement the rule” that it published last month — the action that triggered the latest round of litigation — while arguing that the main issue is whether Talwani has the legal power to stop it ^[1][2]. “The $64,000 question is, is this authorized by the statute?” he said ^[1][2].

How the Case Returned to Court

Talwani has been here before. In June, she prohibited the administration from implementing Trump’s executive order for the November election, ruling that the changes came too close to voting for the federal government to embark on such a project ^[1][2].

The Supreme Court late last month ruled that Talwani’s order was premature because the Postal Service had not yet published regulations governing how it would apply Trump’s order ^[1][2]. The agency did so just before that ruling came down, prompting Democrats and voting rights groups to swiftly re-file their lawsuits ^[1][2]. They counter that the president has no authority to set election rules — a power designated by the Constitution to the states and, in some cases, to Congress ^[1].

What’s Still Unconfirmed

Whether the system is operational remains unconfirmed: a Justice Department lawyer representing the Postal Service could not tell the court that it was, and Talwani said she had nothing from the agency describing how the system would work ^[1][2]. The sources do not say when Talwani will decide whether to extend her temporary order, nor whether the administration had sought Supreme Court intervention as of publication ^[1].

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References

1. Orange County Register. (2026, September 3). Federal judge considers whether to extend ban against US Postal Service mail voting changes. ocregister.com ↩a ↩b ↩c ↩d ↩e ↩f ↩g ↩h ↩i ↩j ↩k ↩l ↩m ↩n ↩o ↩p ↩q
2. Mercurynews. (2026, September 3). Federal judge considers whether to extend ban against US Postal Service mail voting changes. mercurynews.com ↩a ↩b ↩c ↩d ↩e ↩f ↩g ↩h ↩i ↩j ↩k ↩l ↩m ↩n

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