The Trump administration’s plan to change how the US Postal Service processes millions of mail ballots is creating new uncertainty for state and local election officials already mapping out November’s elections.
The USPS published a proposed rulemaking on June 2 that would require states to provide information on voters who are approved to send and receive mail ballots and to link ballot envelopes to unique barcodes. The agency says the changes, which stem from President Donald Trump’s March executive order on mail-in balloting, would improve election mail tracking and security.
The timing has drawn scrutiny because election officials make decisions on vendors, ballot design, and voter communication months before ballots are cast. State lawmakers are also debating changes to mail voting, leaving administrators waiting on clarity from decisions in legislatures, courts, and Washington.
Election officials have navigated late changes before, including in 2020 when the pandemic forced states to adjust voting procedures close to Election Day. But this year’s debate centers on whether USPS will alter how it interacts with individual states and what impact that could have on the processing and counting of individual ballots.
Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read (D) said the state has spent nearly three decades building its election system around automatically mailing ballots to registered voters and that “Oregonians prefer” that system. They’re evaluating how the proposed federal requirements would alter their procedures, he said.
“Everybody ever involved in a contest or a game knows you don’t change the rules in the middle of it,” Read said.
The proposal is open for public comment until early July before USPS can move toward a final rule, which could take effect before the midterms, though the exact timing remains unclear.
The order and proposed USPS rule are already facing legal challenges. The NAACP sought to revive a lawsuit over pandemic-era ballot handling, arguing the proposal violates a 2021 settlement with USPS. Public Citizen Litigation Group and the NAACP represent the plaintiffs seeking to enforce the agreement and block the agency from moving forward.
USPS did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Justin Levitt, an election law professor at Loyola Law School and former White House senior policy adviser for democracy and voting rights during the Biden administration, said the biggest legal question is how much authority USPS has over ballots that fall outside the proposed system.
“The most unusual I’ve seen is the Post Office purporting to say that it won’t deliver mail unless individuals are on the right list,” Levitt said. “That’s not a thing that the Post Office has the authority to do.”
Levitt said other parts of the proposal, including additional coordination between USPS and election offices, could be “really helpful.”
“There are all kinds of ways where jurisdictions might actually want to give the Postal Service lists of addresses so they can make sure that all of them get through the post office okay,” he said.
State Debate
The federal debate over mail-in voting is just one aspect of election administration uncertainty. Legislatures across the country are also revisiting their own rules.
Lawmakers have introduced 344 bills related to absentee and mail voting this year, with 21 enacted so far, said Andrew Bahl, Ballotpedia’s lead team staff writer. That follows 427 introduced bills and 48 enacted in 2025 and 445 introduced and 31 enacted in 2024.
Mississippi lawmakers passed legislation (HB 908) this year preparing for a potential Supreme Court ruling on the state’s mail ballot deadline. The measure would end Mississippi’s grace period if the court finds states cannot count ballots postmarked by Election Day but received afterward. Maryland lawmakers took the opposite approach, passing legislation (SB 0949) aimed at preserving the state’s grace period for state and local elections if federal rules change.
Tammy Patrick, chief program officer for the National Association of Election Officials, said election officials and USPS already coordinate on mail voting.
Some elements of the proposed rule, including ballot tracking and automation-compatible envelopes, mirror steps jurisdictions already take. But she said making those practices mandatory nationwide could create uneven challenges.
“For some of the regulations, it wouldn’t be a major change for some states, but it would be a massive change for others,” Patrick said.
States that regularly conduct elections by mail may already have vendors, technology, and procedures in place, while smaller offices could have to make adjustments with limited staff and budgets.
“Seventy-five percent of the election offices in this country only serve 8% of the nation’s voters,” Patrick said. “It is these small jurisdictions where they’re going to have challenges with comporting with this requirement.”
Election Preparation
States with long-running vote-by-mail systems are evaluating how federal requirements could fit with current procedures.
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold (D) said her office is reviewing the USPS proposal and preparing a formal response. More than 92% of voters there used mail ballots in the 2024 general election, according to her office.
Colorado lawmakers also approved legislation (HB26-1113) this year to send ballots and open drop boxes earlier, partly in response to concerns around mail delivery. Griswold said the state has also worked with counties on security planning, staff training, and procedures for responding to potential disruptions.
“We’ve been working on contingencies to prepare for an array of scenarios that could impact 2026 with state and county partners,” Griswold said in an interview.
Holly Idelson, a policy strategist at Protect Democracy who focuses on election administration, said USPS and election officials have traditionally worked together through guidance and voluntary best practices.
Altering that relationship by making some practices mandatory would be “problematic,” she said.
Ricky Hatch (R), clerk and auditor for Weber County, Utah, said election planning starts long before voters begin casting ballots.
“Election officials plan for the November election almost a year in advance, in some cases more than a year in advance,” Hatch said. “Anytime you do that, you introduce the risk of error and confusion, particularly with communications to voters.”