68 Million Voters Could Be Affected in Fallout from New Postal Service Mail-In Ballot Rule Change
A proposed postal rule threatens voter confidence and ballot counting. Advocates are fighting to stop it.
The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) should implement safeguards to protect mail-in voters considering a new rule it plans to add to the Domestic Mail Manual. If implemented without revision, Section 608.11, “Postmarks and Postal Possession,” could disenfranchise voters, erode faith in elections, and invite accusations of voter suppression.
The proposed rule redefines the role of a postmark. It states that a postmark confirms the Postal Service’s possession of a mail piece—such as a ballot envelope—on a given date, but that date may not be the date the voter mailed it.
This rule change aligns with the USPS’s Delivering for America program implemented in 2021, in which machines at regional postal facilities postmark mail items.
This subtle shift has profound implications. A ballot mailed on or before Election Day could receive a postmark after Election Day because of this new system… or bureaucratic incompetence. This would then disqualify it in states that rely on postmarks to verify valid ballots. For the tens of millions of voters in 19 states and D.C. with postmark-based laws, this could mean their ballots are rejected through no fault of their own.
Ned Jones, director of the Citizens Election Research Center at the Election Integrity Network, told Restoration News that even after the rollout of Delivering for America “that has been a disaster,”
The USPS took heroic action to make sure that ballot envelopes were postmarked on the ballot envelope receipt date, when it mattered, and to deliver ballots on time. Apparently, they are unwilling to do these "Heroic Efforts" going forward. They are leaving it up to the voter to certify the ballot mail date.
Without accommodations for voters who mail in their ballots at the last minute, they will have to take extra steps, such as requesting a manual postmark or paying for services like Certified Mail to prove the mailing date. This adds undue complexity and cost to voters who don’t keep up with every little USPS rule change.
The expectation that voters should have to hand ballots to a clerk for a manual postmark assumes access to a post office, which is not always feasible. Requiring payment for services like Certified Mail creates an unequal poll tax.
If voters’ ballots are rejected due to late postmarks, many may feel voting is a waste of time. The ripple effects could fuel distrust in the electoral system, driving down participation among informed but disillusioned voters.
Another problem this could create is additional accusations of voter suppression. This could spark popular demand for more liberal election laws surrounding mail-in voting, which invite opportunities for voter fraud and extended ballot counting—another driver of a lack of confidence in election results.
“In the 19 states and DC, that require a postmark by election day, the USPS has to come up with a system that certifies that ballots have been mailed by election day,” Jones said.
The lack of a robust public education campaign compounds the problem. The USPS has a responsibility to ensure voters are informed in advance, but the proposed rule includes no such commitment, despite elections in Virginia and New Jersey approaching in less than two months. A failure to educate the public could result in widespread ballot rejections, undermining the legitimacy of election outcomes.
Voting by mail seems unlikely to return to pre-COVID-19 lows. In 2024, over 45 million Americans voted this way. Expecting individuals to navigate additional steps or pay fees to ensure their ballots are counted is unreasonable, and many voters will not even know about the rule until their ballots are rejected.
The USPS should not shift the burden of certifying mailing dates to voters. Instead, it should develop a system to ensure ballot envelopes are postmarked on the date they are received. This could involve automated processes or special handling for election mail to guarantee accurate postmarks. This would preserve voter confidence that every ballot mailed on time will be counted. Additionally, the USPS must launch an education campaign to inform voters of the rule change, ensuring no one is blindsided by it.
(READ MORE: Make Every State Count Ballots Like Florida)
