Federal rules governing mail-in ballots took effect Thursday, Aug. 27, for the Nov. 3 election, the U.S. Postal Service announced, raising questions about how LA County's 5.8 million registered voters will cast their ballots.

The announcement followed a rapid legal sequence. The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on Monday, Aug. 24, to lift a lower-court block on President Trump's March 31 executive order regulating mail-in voting. Two days later, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston lifted her own separate injunction blocking the USPS rule. By Thursday, USPS declared the requirements operational.

The 95-page USPS rule, published in the Federal Register on Wednesday, Aug. 26, requires states to upload voter names and addresses to a federal portal at least 30 days before Election Day. Ballots from voters not in the portal would be rejected. New envelope barcodes and design standards also apply, the LA Times reported.

About 80% of Californians voted by mail in 2024, according to the Los Angeles Times.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta, leading a coalition of 24 state attorneys general and the governor of Pennsylvania, filed a lawsuit Thursday, Aug. 27, challenging the rule. Bonta called it "an unlawful overreach that shows just how far President Trump will go to control elections …" and said the fight is far from over.

What LA County officials say

Dean C. Logan, LA County registrar-recorder/county clerk, said in a statement responding to the Supreme Court's Monday, Aug. 24, ruling that the ongoing efforts to modify the electoral process during an election cycle are deeply troubling. Logan said his office will intensify voter outreach, warning that voter confusion and diminished participation pose the most significant risk to free and fair elections.

LA County's election office told the OC Register that any changes at this stage would be significant given the fast-approaching timeline for mail ballots.

The county had already begun sending outreach postcards to approximately 4.8 million registered voters as of Aug. 21, according to a county press release. Mail-in ballots must go out to all registered voters no later than Oct. 5. Vote Centers open Oct. 24 through Election Day.

Expert: 'Nothing has changed' yet

Rick Hasen, a UCLA professor of law and political science who directs the Safeguarding Democracy Project, told LAist that voters should not panic.

"As of now, nothing has changed," Hasen said. "And let's wait and see where things are in a week."

Hasen noted that California mails ballots to every registered voter, making mid-cycle changes to envelope design extremely expensive and logistically difficult. He added that voting centers and other in-person options remain available if mail-in ballots face interference.

Orange County Registrar of Voters Bob Page said his office is proceeding as planned and will start printing ballots for 1.9 million local voters the week of Labor Day. Page said Orange County's ballot envelopes already received USPS design approval in July.

The White House called the Supreme Court's Monday, Aug. 24, ruling "a major win for the security of American elections." Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, dissenting, wrote that the decision "needlessly injects chaos and uncertainty into the upcoming midterm elections."

Multiple lawsuits remain active. The Elias Law Group and the League of Women Voters, through the ACLU, have also filed legal challenges to the USPS rule. Aaron Blacksberg, lead legal analyst at the Institute for Responsive Government, said during a virtual briefing: "The court cases are coming fast and furious right now after the Supreme Court's ruling."

The USPS rule does not change which voters are eligible to vote by mail. That remains determined by states. Voters do not need to take any additional action themselves. The rule applies only to general elections, not primaries, and exempts military and overseas voters.

No court hearing date has been set for Bonta's lawsuit. The legal situation remains fluid, and further court orders could come quickly.