Topline
The U.S. Postal Service finalized a new rule Friday that would only allow the agency to send mail-in ballots to voters whose information has been shared with the federal government—but whether it’ll be used in the November midterms depends on a Supreme Court ruling that could come at any time.
Election workers prepare mail-in ballots for tallying at the Los Angeles County Ballot Processing Center on November 4, 2024, in City of Industry, California.
AFP via Getty Images
Key Facts
The Postal Service finalized a new rule based on President Donald Trump’s March executive order targeting mail-in voting, which requires the USPS to only mail ballots when states comply with new federal reporting requirements.
The rule requires state and local election officials to submit voters’ names and addresses to USPS through a new portal, and only voters whose information is submitted will be allowed to receive mail-in ballots, which will be sent in envelopes with special federal barcodes.
The rule doesn’t require voters to take any additional actions, but voting rights advocates have opposed the policy and sued over it in court, alleging it could disenfranchise voters by adding additional steps and administrative hurdles for them to vote by mail.
Multiple lower courts have issued rulings that have blocked the rule from taking effect, and the USPS said in its final rule that it will not be used for the November midterm election unless a court order allows it.
The Supreme Court is now considering whether to allow the rule to take effect for the November midterms, after the Trump administration appealed a ruling blocking the order to the high court.
What to Watch for
The Supreme Court’s ruling could come at any time, as all filings necessary for the court to rule in the case have already been submitted. It’s unclear when exactly the court could rule, though the logistics of imposing the rule will get harder as the election gets closer. The Trump administration also has to answer to a federal judge in a different case—separate from the one at the Supreme Court—who expressed concerns Sunday over the USPS finalizing the ballot rule despite being barred in court from moving forward with it. Voting rights advocates asked the court in that case to “enforce” its previous order blocking the mail-in ballot rule, after the Trump administration allegedly violated it. Judge Indira Talwani ordered the Trump administration to respond to the request by 8 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, arguing the government published the final rule while “ignoring the confusion that the publication will engender.” The judge also criticized the Trump administration for publishing the final rule “on a Friday evening after the courts were closed.”
What Does The New Rule Say?
The rule requires states to submit lists of their voters requesting mail-in ballots to USPS ahead of an election, and imposes new policies to ensure only those voters whose information has been sent to USPS can receive ballots through the mail. It also mandates the creation of new envelope designs and barcodes, which will make clear that ballots have been cleared through the federal system. It does not have any impact on which voters are eligible to vote by mail, which will still be determined by states. The USPS has said it will only process the information it receives from election officials, and will not take any steps itself to verify whether the voters submitted are eligible to vote. The rule requires election officials to provide the federal government with a voter’s name, address, state and the barcodes that will be associated with their ballot. That information will be retained by the federal government, which will eventually send a list to state election officials of every single voter name and address USPS received in that state. If postal workers find any ballots that haven’t complied with the federal requirements, they will be mailed back to election officials and will not be delivered.
What Do Voters Have To Know?
Voters will not have to do anything differently if the new USPS rule takes effect: ballots will still be requested and sent out by state and local election officials as they have been in the past, and the final rule specifies that states will still govern which voters in the state are eligible to vote by mail. The new system of registering voter information with USPS has the potential to cause administrative issues and delays, however, so voters should be aware of the rule if it takes effect. (USPS has argued the rule “does not—nor is it intended to—facilitate any form of voter suppression, affect election outcomes, or target particular demographics, districts, or states.”)
Register for mail ballots early: The USPS rule requires election officials to submit voters’ information to the federal government’s new portal by at least 30 days before Election Day, or by the date that mail-in ballots start to be sent out. That doesn’t mean all voters’ information has to be supplied by that date, however, as election officials can keep submitting voters to the federal system until the last day mail-in ballots can be sent out. Given that it’s unclear how long processing information through the new system could take, however, voters may want to request a mail ballot early to make sure there’s enough time to have their information cleared.
Some groups are more at risk: In court filings opposing the USPS rule, voting rights advocates have argued groups that are particularly reliant on mail-in ballots, like senior citizens and the disabled, could be at enhanced risk of disenfranchisement under the new system, given the potential for administrative issues. USPS and the Trump administration have said postal officials will not take any steps to verify voters’ eligibility, but some voting rights advocates have also expressed fears that people who may not be properly registered in government databases as being citizens—such as people who were only recently granted citizenship—could also face issues. In a filing to the Supreme Court, election officials also cautioned the new processes around creating barcodes could be particularly difficult in rural communities with fewer resources.
Exemptions: The ballot reporting requirements do not apply to U.S. military and overseas voters who mail in ballots from outside the U.S., and also only apply to general elections, not primary elections.
What We Don’t Know
If any states will decline to participate in the new system, should it take effect. While no states or localities have yet suggested they’ll do so, that would mean voters in those areas would not be able to submit any ballots through the USPS, and would instead have to rely on other voting methods, like in-person voting and ballot drop boxes.
Key Background
Trump’s executive order directing the USPS to restrict mailing ballots comes as the president has long attacked mail-in voting, falsely claiming it’s more susceptible to fraud—despite regularly voting by mail himself. The controversy over the USPS rule also comes after the Postal Service became a source of controversy in the 2020 election, as former Postmaster General Louis DeJoy implemented widely criticized changes that resulted in mail delays. That sparked accusations that DeJoy, a Trump ally, was intentionally trying to stymie mail-in voting, which he and the USPS strongly denied. DeJoy’s changes were eventually reversed in response to court challenges, and USPS took additional “extraordinary measures” ahead of the election to ensure ballots would arrive on time. DeJoy has since been replaced as postmaster general by David Steiner, a former FedEx board member who was reportedly installed at Trump’s urging. Steiner has said he will follow Trump’s directives on mail-in voting, but would defer to the courts regarding legal challenges.
Further Reading
Late Mail-In Ballots Can Be Counted After Election Day, Supreme Court Rules (Forbes)
Postal Service Publishes Finalized Plan to Restrict Mail Ballots (New York Times)