Attorney General Bonta Secures Another Win as First Circuit Rejects Trump Administration’s Latest Attempt to Disrupt Mail Voting

OAKLAND - Co-leading a coalition of 24 attorneys general and the Governor of Pennsylvania, California Attorney General Rob Bonta today secured another victory for voters after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit denied the Trump Administration's request to stay, or pause, a recent federal court order blocking drastic, unprecedented, and unlawful changes to mail voting adopted by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). The changes, which were mandated by President Trump's second elections-related Executive Order, would require state and local election officials to redesign and reprint ballot envelopes, enroll millions of voters in a new and untested USPS system, and meet burdensome requirements that would allow USPS to refuse to deliver mail ballots that do not comply. Last week, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts granted the coalition's request for a preliminary injunction, after previously granting a temporary restraining order. The preliminary injunction blocks the USPS changes through the fast-approaching November midterm elections. The Trump Administration appealed the decision and asked the First Circuit to let the changes take effect. Today, the First Circuit denied that request.

"The First Circuit has once again rejected the Trump Administration's latest attempt to disrupt mail voting," said Attorney General Rob Bonta. "The changes at issue could disenfranchise millions of voters, especially given how little time there is to implement them. As a reminder, President Trump has repeatedly voted by mail himself - he doesn't get to decide that mail voting is good enough for him, but not for other Americans."

"The rule of law continues to slap down Trump's dangerous and un-American attacks on our democracy," Governor Gavin Newsom. "California will never stop fighting for democracy and people's ability to exercise their constitutional right to vote."

"This decision was the right one. Attacks on mail voting have the potential to disenfranchise millions of eligible voters, violate citizens' constitutional right to vote, and undercut our democracy," said Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber, Ph.D. "California and its leaders will continue to protect voters' rights and their ability to participate in free and fair elections."

The First Circuit's decision comes as serious concerns grow about USPS's ability to implement the changes on a short timeline. A recent whistleblower report warned of "potentially catastrophic problems" and characterized the Trump Administration's efforts as "sloppy and rushed." In response, the coalition filed the whistleblower report with the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts and cited it in its opposition brief to the government's request to stay the case before the First Circuit. In a recent court filing, USPS also admitted that the technology to implement the rule is not even available. In addition, election officials across the nation, including chief election officials from states that are not part of the coalition, such as Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Utah, have argued that the USPS rule cannot be responsibly implemented for the November midterm elections.

The coalition's legal challenge to the USPS changes began on August 26, with the filing of a lawsuit co-led by Attorney General Bonta, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell, Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, and Washington Attorney General Nick Brown. They were joined by the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaiʻi, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin, as well as the Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.