UPDATE at 1:30 p.m. on 8/28/2026: The Wisconsin Department of Justice and a coalition of states secured a temporary restraining order against the United States Postal Service regarding vote-by-mail systems.
The order from the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts temporarily blocking key parts of a new rule that would have imposed burdensome requirements on vote-by-mail systems ahead of the November 3 midterm elections.
The order blocks USPS from requiring states to obtain the federal government’s approval of ballot and return-envelope designs, register for a new USPS portal for tracking voter information, input information for each of their state’s voters into the portal, and comply with other provisions.
MADISON– The Wisconsin Department of Justice is joining a lawsuit against the U.S. Postal Service over a new mail-in voting rule.
The new rule would require every voter who is eligible to vote by mail to be registered into a new USPS database.
The lawsuit argues the postal service is overstepping their authority by attempting to regulate the state’s election procedures.
It also says the rule could disrupt this fall’s election, preventing eligible voters from receiving their ballots.
The Wisconsin DOJ argues that the changes come less than 10 weeks ahead of the general election, which leaves officials little time to comply with the new regulations.
Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul says the rule would create “chaos” in the administration of the fall election.
President Trump issued an Executive Order in March to establish a national list of eligible voters, which is the origin of the new rule.
In the 2024 general election, more than 1.5 million Wisconsin Voters cast their ballots by mail.
