The lead omitted a distinction reported elsewhere that day.
The official’s disclosure made specific allegations. It called the development process “chaotic” and “fundamentally flawed.” It claimed that one barcode failing to scan could cause a batch of 10,000 ballots to be rejected. It also said work continued after an August 27 temporary restraining order, with a goal of making the portal ready for public release on September 1.
These were allegations from an anonymous official. They were not technical findings by the court. The available records contain no independent test of the barcode claim, complete account of the work performed, or confirmation that the portal launched on September 1.
The legal issue was narrower.
The August 27 order imposed a 14-day stay on specified sections of the Postal Service’s final rule for elections through November 3, 2026. It said USPS officials could take “no further preparatory steps or implement in any way” those sections.
That sounds broad because it is broad. It was not, however, the last word.
According to contemporaneous reports, the judge clarified on August 31 that the order restricted mandatory participation but did not prohibit states from using the portal voluntarily. CNN reported that the mandate was frozen while the Postal Service remained free to offer the portal to states choosing to upload voter information. The Associated Press, CBS News and NBC News reported the same distinction.
The signed clarification was not available among the records reviewed here. The temporary restraining order remained in force. The reports do not settle whether every preparatory act was permitted, particularly work performed before the clarification or work connected to mandatory use.
They do establish something smaller.
Continued work on the portal did not, by itself, prove that the Postal Service was violating the order.
There was reason for close scrutiny. In an August 25 enforcement order, the court found that the Postal Service had violated an earlier injunction by completing its rulemaking. That finding concerned an earlier act. It was not a finding that the agency conducted an unlawful September 1 launch.
Nor was a launch established. The disclosure described September 1 as an internal goal. CNN reported that it was unclear whether the portal was ready.
The available record therefore supports several separate facts:
The official alleged serious technical and procedural failures.
The court stopped mandatory state participation under the specified provisions.
Voluntary participation remained permissible, according to reports of the August 31 clarification.
No available ruling determined that every piece of portal work after August 27 violated the order.
A system can be badly designed even when some work on it is permitted. A court order can remain in force without prohibiting every related act.
“Voluntary” is a small word. Here it carried most of the law.