U.S. Supreme Court rejects Trump's mail ballot curbs for midterms Mail-in ballots are prepared at the Wake County Board of Elections in Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S. on Friday. The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to clear the Postal Service to enforce new restrictions on mail-in ballots for the congressional midterms, in a rebuff to President Donald Trump's administration after some states started early voting and opponents warned late-breaking changes would inject chaos into the elections. The justices' decision on Monday came after North Carolina and Alabama began mailing thousands of ballots to voters and many more states prepared to do the same in the coming days. The order followed last-minute legal wrangling and uncertainty about whether states would have to suddenly upend months of planning for the Nov. 3 midterms, when Republicans are defending their slim majority in Congress. The Supreme Court denied the Justice Department's request to lift a Boston federal judge's order that barred the Postal Service from making its new mail-in ballot rules mandatory through the November contests.

Things to Do in L.A. Tap to enable a layout that focuses on the article. Fewer than half of Americans expect midterm elections to be'free and fair,' poll finds A worker carries ballots at L.A. County's processing center in June. This is read by an automated voice. Please report any issues or inconsistencies here . See more from the L.A. Times in Google Search.

The Surge Democrats Are Laughing at Trump's Midterm Plan. Dems are gleeful about the president declaring he's "on the ballot." Become a member to share 10 free articles a month. Welcome to this week's historic edition of the Surge, here in our brand-new home . Do you like the imported marble floors and silk window treatments?

Creator Playbook Trending Now Say More Look Up Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Switch Off Mashable Voices Mashable Selects Safety Net Versus Gift Ideas For Everyone On Your List In My Bag All Series A disclosure alleges USPS rushed an untested ballot-screening tool that can reject thousands of votes over a single error. Chance Townsend is the General Assignments Editor at Mashable, covering tech, video games, dating apps, digital culture, and whatever else comes his way. He has a Master's in Journalism from the University of North Texas and is a proud orange cat father. His writing has also appeared in PC Mag and . A whistleblower working inside the United States Postal Service (USPS) has told Congress that a brand-new system for screening mail-in ballots -- built in a matter of months, against the advice of the agency's own staff -- is so rushed and untested that it risks mass rejection of legitimate ballots just as the 2026 midterms approach.

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Follow this section to personalize your feed and get instant alerts. Follow Go to your personalized feed WHY FOLLOW? Smart Alerts: Get notified about major news as it happens. Follow this tag to personalize your feed and get instant alerts. Follow Go to your personalized feed WHY FOLLOW? Smart Alerts: Get notified about major news as it happens.

A campaign event in Los Angeles, California, for a proposed'billionaires tax', on 18 February. A campaign event in Los Angeles, California, for a proposed'billionaires tax', on 18 February. Despite more than double the needed number of signatures to qualify for ballot, there's uncertainty it'll make it to voters Nick Robins-Early and Dara Kerr here, filling in for your usual host Blake Montgomery who is out on vacation. We'll be talking about the fight over a proposed billionaire tax in California, the UK's social media ban and SpaceX making a big buy in the AI arms race. The California wealth tax showdown comes to a head this week.

Ballots Have Been Seized Across the US. So far this year, authorities have seized or demanded ballots from elections in four states. Experts fear the trend could throw the midterms into chaos unless courts draw a line. As US voters look to the November midterms, the Trump administration is obsessed with looking back to past elections, seizing ballots cast years ago in several states in search, it claims, of fraud or other malfeasance. But experts believe the goal may be more varied. The seizures began in January when FBI agents armed with a warrant raided an election facility in Fulton County, Georgia, and grabbed 600 boxes of ballots from 2020.

A Conspiracy Theory About QR Codes Has Led to Chaos Ahead of Georgia's Midterms The state of Georgia banned the use of QR codes for elections, based in part on the assertions of a man who's boosted false claims about Israel and 9/11. Now no one knows how ballots will be counted. QR codes are at the center of the latest conspiracy theory in Georgia's elections. And it's largely thanks to Garland Favorito, a man who has spent decades trying to get people to listen to his conspiracy theories about insecure voting machines being used to rig elections in Georgia. When Georgia became the epicenter of election denial conspiracy theories in 2020, Favorito became an overnight superstar in the election denial community, and an integral part of the vast network of groups across the country that sprang up to promote the baseless claim that US elections are rigged.

Things to Do in L.A. Tap to enable a layout that focuses on the article. Bernie Sanders kicks off billionaires tax campaign with choice words for the'oligarchs' Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks Wednesday night at the Wiltern at the formal kickoff of the campaign for the California billionaires tax. This is read by an automated voice. Please report any issues or inconsistencies here . Populist Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday formally kicked off the campaign to place a billionaires tax on the November ballot, framing the proposal as something larger than a debate about economic and tax policy as he appeared at a storied Los Angeles venue.