DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA — The United States Postal Service filed a proposed rule on May 29 to prohibit delivery of absentee/mail-in ballots for general elections unless recipients are on a list provided by state election officials. The proposed rule was published in the Federal Register on June 2.
Under the proposed rule, state election officials would submit the names of absentee/mail-in voters to the Postal Service. They would also submit the unique barcodes applied to their ballot mail envelopes. The Postal Service would then be required to verify that a ballot recipient is on the state-provided list before mailing the ballot. States would be permitted to update their voter lists until the final day their absentee/mail-in ballots are sent out.
The Postal Service stated it would not alter state-provided voter lists and that states would retain their authority over mail-in voter eligibility in federal elections. The proposed rule would require a uniquely serialized Intelligent Mail barcode on each outbound and return ballot envelope. It would not apply to primary elections or to military or overseas voters.
Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs said, "This is an unnecessary rule and does nothing to provide security in our elections. Once again, we're seeing federal overreach that threatens to undermine the rights of eligible voters and override states' authority over elections. This is clearly another attempt by the Trump administration to exercise authority they don't have."
On June 3, the NAACP filed a motion in a lawsuit originally initiated in 2020 regarding ballot delivery. The NAACP motion alleges the proposed rule violates a 2021 settlement requiring the Postal Service to prioritize timely delivery of Election Mail. Samuel Spital, NAACP Legal Defense Fund associate director-counsel, said, "USPS has committed over and over to playing its part in democracy by prioritizing the timely delivery of mail-in ballots. And now for USPS to say we affirmatively will not deliver a ballot at all because it doesn't meet criteria that we invented out of whole cloth, not only violates the settlement agreement, but also the historical role of the USPS in our democracy."
The Postal Service must file a response to the NAACP motion by June 11. Stakeholders may submit comments on the proposed rule to the Postal Service until July 2. All 50 U.S. states have procedures allowing voters to cast ballots without visiting a physical polling place. Specifically, 29 states permit any eligible voter to cast an absentee or mail-in ballot, while 13 states require voters to provide a valid excuse to vote by mail. Eight states automatically mail ballots to all eligible voters.