Thurston County voters will receive their November ballots on schedule, and all 31 drop boxes will stay open, Auditor Mary Hall confirmed Tuesday despite a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that rattled election officials across the country.

Nothing changes here.

The high court voted 6-3 on Monday, Aug. 24, to pause a federal judge's injunction that had blocked President Donald Trump's executive order restricting mail-in voting in 23 states.

But a second, separate nationwide injunction remains in place, and that's the one keeping the U.S. Postal Service from enforcing new mail-ballot rules before the Nov. 3 general election.

"While the Supreme Court permitted certain preliminary aspects of the executive order to proceed, a nationwide injunction issued by a lower federal court remains in full effect," Hall said in a statement to The Olympian. "As a result of this nationwide injunction, there are no changes to how mail-in voting will be administered for the upcoming November general election."

Hall said ballots will be mailed to registered voters between Oct. 8 and Oct. 12. She encouraged residents to use one of the county's 31 drop boxes rather than rely on postal delivery, to ensure ballots are counted on time.

What the ruling does and doesn't do

The Supreme Court's Monday decision found that the 23-state coalition, co-led by Washington Attorney General Nick Brown, sued too early because the executive order had not yet been implemented. The court did not rule on whether the order itself is lawful.

The second injunction, issued Aug. 11 by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in the case League of Women Voters v. Trump, blocks USPS nationwide from implementing Section 3 of the executive order for the 2026 elections. No party had sought to lift that injunction as of Tuesday.

USPS acknowledged the block in its 95-page final rule published Aug. 21, stating it would not take actions to implement the rule for the 2026 elections unless the second injunction is lifted, according to SCOTUSblog.

What's at stake for Washington

Washington is one of eight states that automatically mail ballots to every registered voter, giving it among the highest exposure if the executive order ultimately takes effect.

The most disruptive provision for the state: new return-envelope specifications.

Secretary of State Steve Hobbs said Tuesday that current ballot return envelopes would not meet the new requirements, and that redesigning them by the statewide Oct. 16 mail date would likely be impossible.

In a separate Monday statement, Hobbs warned that "these last-minute requirements would place significant burdens on state and county election officials at a time when our resources are already strained," adding that the state's focus should be on administering a secure and accessible election, "not implementing unnecessary federal requirements just weeks before ballots are mailed."

Brown said in a Monday news release that the ruling "does not bless the substance of the president's actions, it simply says states must wait slightly longer to challenge them."

What's next

Voting rights groups including the ACLU, Brennan Center and League of Women Voters filed a motion Aug. 22 to enforce the second injunction, arguing the USPS final rule defies the court order.

No ruling date on that motion has been set.

If the second injunction holds, Thurston County's election proceeds without disruption. Voters can find drop box locations and registration deadlines at thurstoncountywa.gov.