2026年9月4日 / 美国东部时间下午6:37 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
华盛顿讯 — 一名联邦法官周五延长了对美国邮政局新邮寄投票规定的禁令，此时各州正准备在11月中期选举前向选民邮寄选票。
美国地区法官英迪拉·塔尔瓦尼发布初步禁令，禁止邮政局在中期选举期间执行上月末最终敲定并公布的相关规定。塔尔瓦尼曾在8月26日暂时叫停该措施，在周四举行听证会之后，她同意了由二十多个民主党领导的州和投票权组织提出的延长救济期限的请求。
在这份长达49页的裁决书中，法官表示邮政局的新规定很可能违宪，并指出各州在距离11月选举如此之近的时间内执行这些规定的困难“几乎肯定会导致符合资格的选民被实质性剥夺投票权”。
法官还表示，邮政局推进新规定的行为很可能超出了其权限范围，因为“《宪法》将选举监管权保留给国会和各州，国会并未授权美国邮政局在允许各州利用邮政服务邮寄选票之前对各州提出要求，而且……最终规则不合规地设立了一个新的不可邮寄材料类别”。
“未经《选举条款》授权，最终规则与国会的法定体制相冲突，并且在其不仅侵犯了国会的《选举条款》权力，还侵犯了留给各州的权力的情况下，该规则是违宪的，”她写道。
塔尔瓦尼重申了州和地方选举官员提出的担忧，即他们无法在选举前的几周内遵守这些规定，并表示他们已经“全力投入”完成其他与选举相关的任务，例如选民登记、维护选民名单、开展提前投票以及处理邮寄投票申请。
“在任何时候，最终规则的新要求对地方官员来说都是一项极其繁重的工作，”她写道。“但现在强加这些任务会比平时带来更大的困难，因为选举官员正忙于主持选举工作。”
美国司法部很可能会对该裁决提起上诉。
在周四的听证会上，政府律师表示，如果塔尔瓦尼继续阻止这些规定的实施，这将绕过联邦上诉法院，转而寻求最高法院的干预。特朗普政府在周四晚些时候，即在法官就初步禁令作出裁决之前，就已向最高法院提出请求，允许其执行邮寄选票限制措施。
这场迅速发展的法律斗争正值各州准备向选民邮寄选票之际。威斯康星州至少有两个市镇已经开始邮寄选票，北卡罗来纳州将于周五向特定选民寄出选票。更多州将在9月中旬左右开始邮寄选票。
本案争议的焦点是邮政局发布的一项最终规则，该规则要求各州和地方政府满足邮寄选票的设计要求，包括使用独特的条形码，并通过在线门户网站提交有关将以邮寄方式投票的居民的信息，包括他们的姓名、地址和个性化条形码。
这些选民将在邮政局登记，并被纳入各州专属的“邮寄和缺席投票参与名单”。
该规则要求邮政工作人员审查和核实寄给选民的选票邮件。邮政局表示，任何不符合要求的选票邮件“将不予接受并退回选举办公室”。
特朗普政府表示，该规则对各州和地方政府仅施加了“适度的信息披露要求”，并且“不应阻止任何一名选民通过邮寄方式投票”。
但州和地方选举官员警告称，为11月的选举满足邮政局的新规定将代价高昂，且在后勤方面极具挑战。
一名匿名举报人还警告称，邮政局的系统存在“潜在的灾难性问题”。举报人在提交给国会的一份披露文件中表示，邮政局的新邮寄选票门户网站“未经过测试”，其开发“过于仓促”。这位联邦官员还警告称，邮政局的新核查程序可能会导致大量邮寄选票无法送达。
邮政局表示，其仍在对新的选票邮件门户网站进行“改进”，并预计该门户网站将在“下周某个时候”可供自愿使用。
由于塔尔瓦尼此前发布的阻止该规则实施的命令，邮政局目前并未要求各州和地方政府提交选票信封以供审查，以确保其符合新的设计规则。
不过，邮政局执行副总裁史蒂文·蒙泰斯在一份文件中表示，该局“已为那些希望自愿提交信封进行审查，以确保其符合最终规则中规定的标准的州提供了这项审查服务”。
Judge extends block on Postal Service’s new Trump-backed mail-in ballot requirements
September 4, 2026 / 6:37 PM EDT / CBS News
Washington — A federal judge on Friday extended her block on the U.S. Postal Service’s new requirements for mail voting, as states prepare to begin sending mail ballots to voters for the November midterm elections.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani issued a preliminary injunction barring the agency from enforcing the rules, which were finalized and published late last month, during the midterms. Talwani had temporarily blocked the measure on Aug. 26 and, following a hearing Thursday, agreed to grant a request for longer relief sought by two dozen Democratic-led states and voting rights groups.
In her 49-page decision, the judge said the Postal Service’s new rules are likely unconstitutional and said states’ difficulties with implementing the regulations so close to the November elections “nearly guarantee[s] significant disenfranchisement for eligible voters.”
The judge also said the Postal Service likely exceeded its authority by moving ahead with the new requirements because “the Constitution reserves election regulation to Congress and the States, Congress has not authorized the USPS to make requirements of States before permitting use of the USPS for mailing their ballots, and … the Final Rule impermissibly establishes a new category of nonmailable material.”
“Unauthorized by the Elections Clause, the Final Rule clashes with Congress’s statutory scheme, and is unconstitutional where it intrudes not only on Congress’s Elections Clause powers but also that power left to the States,” she wrote.
Talwani reiterated concerns raised by state and local election officials about their ability to comply with the regulations in the weeks before the election and said they are already “consumed” with completing other election-related tasks, like registering voters, maintaining voter lists, conducting early voting and processing applications to vote by mail.
“The Final Rule’s new requirements would be an extraordinary amount of work for local officials at any time,” she wrote. “But imposing these mandates on election officials at present poses greater difficulties than otherwise because election officials are actively administering elections.”
The Justice Department is likely to appeal the decision.
During a hearing Thursday, government lawyers said that if Talwani continued to block the requirements, it would bypass the federal appeals court and seek the Supreme Court’s intervention. The Trump administration asked the high court later Thursday to let it enforce the mail-ballot limits — before the judge could issue her decision on the preliminary injunction.
The fast-moving legal battle is unfolding as states gear up to send mail ballots to voters. At least two municipalities in Wisconsin have already mailed ballots out, and in North Carolina, they will go out to certain voters Friday. More states will begin sending mail ballots around mid-September.
At issue in the case is a final rule issued by the Postal Service that requires states and localities to meet design requirements for mail ballots, including unique barcodes, and to submit to an online portal information about residents who will vote by mail, including their names, addresses and individualized barcodes.
Those voters will be enrolled with the Postal Service and included on state-specific “Mail-In and Absentee Participation Lists.”
The rule requires postal workers to review and verify ballot mail being sent to voters. Any ballot mailings that don’t comply with the requirements “will not be accepted and will be returned” to the election offices, the Postal Service said.
The Trump administration has said the rule imposes “modest informational requirements” on states and localities, and “should not prevent a single voter from voting by mail.”
But state and local election officials have warned that it will be expensive and logistically challenging to meet the Postal Service’s new mandates for the November elections.
An anonymous whistleblower has also warned of “potentially catastrophic problems” with the Postal Service’s system. The agency’s new mail ballot portal is “untested” and its development “rushed,” the whistleblower said in a disclosure provided to Congress. The federal official also warned that the Postal Service’s new verification process could keep significant numbers of mail ballots from being delivered.
The Postal Service has said it continues to make “refinements” to the new ballot mail portal and anticipates the portal will be available for voluntary use “by sometime next week.”
Because of Talwani’s earlier order that blocked implementation of the rule, the Postal Service is not requiring states and localities to submit ballot envelopes for review to ensure they comply with the new design rules.
The agency has, however, “made that review available for states that wish to voluntarily submit their envelopes for review to ensure that they meet the standards set forth in the Final Rule,” Steven Monteith, executive vice president of the Postal Service, said in a filing.
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