The futures file · every date somebody in power set, and what was standing there when it arrived

24 August 2026Kept

The Supreme Court rules on the mail-ballot order

The injunction was lifted, 6-3

The Court lifted the injunction six to three and let the mail-ballot order proceed. The Postal Service wrote it into a rule two days later. A federal judge blocked it again on September 4, and the Justice Department appealed on September 6.

Seven dates about how November gets counted, and the eighth date is November 3. The same department has asked at least 48 states and Washington for their voter files, and sued 30 that declined.

This page is a row in the futures file. It changes when the date does: set, then kept, moved or missed. A date that came due with nobody to settle it says so, in public, until somebody settles it. The whole timeline runs at the foot of the front page.