Hillsboro voters should receive their Nov. 3 ballots on schedule after a federal judge blocked the Trump administration from restricting mail voting nationwide.

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani issued a preliminary injunction on Friday, Sept. 4, barring the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) from enforcing President Donald Trump's executive order on mail ballots. The ruling, reported by OPB, replaces a temporary order Talwani granted earlier this summer.

The stakes are especially high in Hillsboro. The county elections page shows the Nov. 3 ballot carries a Commissioner District 4 runoff between former Hillsboro Mayor Steve Callaway and Hillsboro City Councilor Kipperlyn Sinclair. District 4 covers most of Hillsboro, plus North Plains, Cornelius and Forest Grove. Commissioner Jerry Willey announced plans to retire in 2025, leaving the seat open.

The ballot also includes the county chair runoff between Commissioners Nafisa Fai and Pam Treece, who finished first and second in the May 19 primary with 39.1% and 33.1% of the vote. Chair Kathryn Harrington did not seek reelection. Three Hillsboro City Council seats are on the same ballot: Ward 1 Position A, Ward 2 Position A and Ward 3 Position A, according to the Hillsboro News Times.

Oregon votes entirely by mail and has for more than 25 years. Washington County Elections is scheduled to mail ballots to all registered voters on Oct. 14.

Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield, one of 24 state attorneys general who sued to block the USPS rule, responded to the Sept. 4 injunction in a statement reported by KOIN: "This ruling keeps Oregon's elections exactly where they belong: in Oregon's hands."

The USPS rule Trump's order triggered would have required new ballot-design standards and forced states to collect voter information and transmit it to the federal government. It also barred the Postal Service from delivering ballots to anyone not confirmed as an eligible voter. A whistleblower report made public the week of Sept. 4 warned the requirements could prevent millions of mail ballots from ever being sent, according to OPB. The rule requires all ballots to be physically brought to post offices before mailing. If a single ballot's bar code registers an error, the entire batch gets rejected.

At the Sept. 4 hearing in Boston, Talwani pressed Department of Justice attorney Michael Velchik on whether the Postal Service's online tracking portal was operational. Velchik could not confirm it was ready.

"I don't even have a declaration from the Postal Service: 'This is how it will work.' I don't have it. I have nothing," Talwani said.

Trump signed the executive order March 31. Talwani first blocked it in June, but the Supreme Court overturned that order in late August, ruling the lawsuits had been filed before the USPS published its implementing rule. Democratic officials in 24 states, including Oregon, refiled their challenge on Aug. 27.

On Sunday, Sept. 6, the Trump administration filed its third appeal to the Supreme Court asking justices to lift Talwani's injunction, OPB reported. Solicitor General John Sauer argued in the filing that ballots were already being mailed in North Carolina and more states would follow. The administration maintained the Postal Service would not determine voter eligibility or count ballots. No state has volunteered to use the new USPS system. OPB reported the White House did not respond to a request for comment on the Sept. 4 ruling.

Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read advised voters in July to mail ballots by Oct. 27, one week before Election Day, and urged those more than 50 miles from Portland to use a ballot drop box instead, according to the Beaverton Valley Times.

Washington County military and overseas voters are scheduled to receive ballots Sept. 19. The voter registration deadline for the Nov. 3 election is Oct. 13. The Supreme Court had not ruled on the administration's latest appeal as of Monday, Sept. 7.