Hillsboro voters who cast their ballots by mail got a reprieve after a federal judge blocked new U.S. Postal Service requirements through at least Sept. 11.

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani issued a 14-day temporary restraining order Aug. 27 requiring USPS to halt enforcement of the rule, which would force states to redesign ballot envelopes, meet new barcode standards and upload voter data to a USPS portal that states have not yet received access to. Ballots that don't meet the new specifications would be rejected.

Oregon, which has voted entirely by mail for more than 25 years, is one of 24 states plus the District of Columbia that filed a federal lawsuit Aug. 26 challenging the rule as unconstitutional.

Talwani found the states are "likely to succeed on the merits," writing that USPS likely lacked authority to issue the rule and that the requirements are unconstitutional, according to Ballotpedia. A hearing on a longer temporary injunction is set for Thursday, Sept. 3.

Compliance called impossible before November

Tammy Patrick, chief programs officer at the National Association of Election Officials, filed a court declaration Aug. 28 stating that "none of the Rule's requirements can feasibly be implemented before the … General Election."

The timeline is already locked. Patrick wrote that election budgets and staffing are set, and that printing new envelopes alone could take 12 to 16 weeks. Nationwide, roughly 40 mail design analysts would be qualified to review new ballot designs, according to the Oregon Capital Chronicle. If even a fraction of election offices submitted new envelopes, Patrick wrote, it would take weeks for USPS to process the volume.

Katy Owens Hubler, director of elections at the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), said ballot envelopes in most states have already been designed and printed, making compliance effectively impossible before November.

Oregon prepares drop-box backup plan

Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read has directed election officials to conduct the Nov. 3 midterm under state law. First ballots go out Saturday, Sept. 19, to military and overseas voters, Willamette Week reported.

Read is also requesting roughly $1.25 million in emergency funding from state legislators, including nearly $500,000 for 20 new ballot drop boxes and $1,000 for each of Oregon's more than 300 existing drop boxes, according to OPB. The Hillsboro Public Library at Shute Park houses one of those existing drop boxes. Legislators are expected to consider the request during committee hearings the week of Tuesday, Sept. 8.

Read's office said it will encourage Oregonians to use drop boxes instead of mailing ballots, especially closer to Election Day.

Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield, who has filed or joined 76 pieces of litigation against the Trump administration, said in an Aug. 28 statement reported by Willamette Week that the Postal Service does not get to decide who receives a ballot in Oregon and that authority belongs to the states.

USPS argued in court that its rule is not an election regulation but falls within the agency's authority over mail standards. The Thursday, Sept. 3, hearing will determine whether the pause extends beyond Sept. 11.