This week proved once again that the closer we get to elections, the faster courts must move to protect voting rights. On Monday, the Supreme Court ruled that the various legal challenges to Donald Trump's anti-voting executive order were not yet ready for judicial review.

Specifically, relying on the doctrine of "ripeness," the conservative majority held that because the U.S. Postal Service had not yet enacted its final rule implementing Trump's scheme, legal challenges were premature. By Tuesday, a new round of lawsuits and emergency motions was filed, reflecting the fact that the USPS had now published its final rule.

Freed from any injunction, the administration wasted no time trying to coerce states into compliance. With looming deadlines to print and finalize mail-in ballots, the entire vote-by-mail system seemed near a breaking point.

Then, late Thursday night, the federal judge overseeing the two cases filed in Massachusetts issued an emergency temporary restraining order blocking the USPS from enforcing the new rules. Several aspects of this ruling are noteworthy.

First, the Court noted the near impossibility for states of meeting the new rule's requirements: "Plaintiff States have neither time nor funds to design new mail ballots, seek approval of the new designs, order production of mail ballots, update their own election management systems, train election officials to use the USPS portal, and upload citizen data to the portal, all before the midterms."

Second, the judge addressed the grave threat to democracy and to free and fair elections: "If Plaintiff States are unable to comply with the Final Rule, an outcome that seems unavoidable given the timeframe, they will violate their obligations under the Constitution and State laws to administer elections."

Finally, the court noted the complete "lack [of] any evidence regarding fraudulent absentee or mail-in voting."

If this seems like it should be the end of this fight, it won't be, because Trump's entire political career has been built on attacking voting rights in general and mail-in voting in particular. Making it harder for people to vote and easier for him to cheat is his only plan to win the midterms. And, critically, the Department of Justice operates as his personal law firm, committed to doing his political bidding.

We should expect the DOJ to move swiftly to appeal this order and get it to the Supreme Court as fast as possible. But there are some important wrinkles that will complicate its effort.