A second federal judge has blocked the U.S. Postal Service from implementing President Trump’s new restrictions on mail-in voting as the Supreme Court prepares to consider the issue, the Associated Press reports. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee, issued the preliminary injunction late Sunday.

Nichols found that allowing the regulations to take effect could increase the risk that significant numbers of otherwise valid absentee and mail ballots would not be counted in the upcoming midterm elections.

The Postal Service rules stem from an executive order Trump issued earlier this year. They would require ballot-envelope designs to receive Postal Service approval and require states to upload the identities of voters receiving mail ballots to an online portal that is not yet operational.

The ruling comes as ballots are already being distributed in several states. The Supreme Court is separately considering the administration’s appeal of another injunction issued by a federal judge in Boston.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)