The United States Postal Service (USPS) has unveiled a new set of verification requirements for mail-in ballots, a move that has sparked debate and raised concerns among experts. These changes, however, will not take effect until a current injunction is lifted. The USPS has indicated that the new rules would be implemented immediately once given the go-ahead.
The proposed changes mandate that states collect and report basic voter information, such as a voter’s name and home address, which will be attached to a unique barcode on every mail-in ballot distributed. State election authorities will then be required to input this information into a “federal ballot mail portal” before the ballot is accepted into the mail stream. The USPS has stated that it will not deliver ballots to any state not in compliance with these changes.
Concerns Over Election Integrity and State Rights
The move comes after months of attempts by the administration to collect voter information in the name of election integrity. Some experts are concerned that the consolidation of this information into federal hands undermines the Constitution’s system of state-run elections. Jonathan Diaz, director of voting advocacy for the bipartisan nonprofit Campaign Legal Center, expressed his concerns: “If the administration can determine who is American enough to register to vote, who can prove it sufficiently, then they would have a lot of power to shape the electorate.”
The new requirements fall short of demands from President Donald Trump, whose March executive order on mail-in ballots would have established statewide voter citizenship lists from Social Security or immigration databases. The USPS’ final rule creates a system that would track eligible voters by name and address but keeps citizenship largely out of the equation. The USPS has clarified that “No other voter information, such as birthdate, social security number, or other voter registration details, will be uploaded to the Portal.” They also emphasized that “The Postal Service will not play any role in determining voter eligibility, maintaining voter rolls, or counting ballots.”
The USPS Rule and the SAVE America Act
This rule is not a mail-in ballot ban, nor does it include the military, disability, illness, and travel exceptions requested by the president. The USPS says there are clear lines between the data collected and statewide voter rolls, though the rule does say data collected “will help to facilitate enforcement of federal law.” The rule comes alongside months of gridlock for the SAVE America Act, the GOP’s signature piece of election reform that would require photo ID and proof of citizenship to vote.
President Trump has long demanded the bill make it through Congress, even calling on the termination of the Senate filibuster to make it easier to pass. However, Democrats and some Republican lawmakers argue that the rules would disenfranchise too many American voters. Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski stated, “Alaska’s 20-year struggle to implement REAL ID demonstrates just how incredibly difficult the enforcement of federal mandates can be and how unlikely it is that the SAVE America Act could be effectively implemented on an expedited basis.” She added, “Free and fair elections are the cornerstone of our democracy. As doubt is cast on their legitimacy and public trust erodes, we would do well to avoid partisan reforms that sound good on paper but may work very differently in the real world.”
Public Response and Future Steps
The USPS said it received “more than 200,000 comments” on the change and recognized concerns in its rule. “While the Postal Service acknowledges the range of disagreement on this point, the incidence of voter fraud does not impact the proposed rule’s legal grounding,” the USPS said. “Such enhanced visibility will help identify potential issues that would have otherwise gone undetected; at the very least, it will provide increased assurance that any potential issues are more capable of being effectively identified and investigated.”
The USPS said the rule will be officially published on Aug. 26. A U.S. appeals court upheld the district judge’s injunction in July, keeping any changes to mail-in ballots on hold while litigation continues.
