The Postal Service published a proposed rule on June 2 that would block mail-in ballot delivery in any state refusing to hand over voter registration data to the federal government, giving concrete enforcement teeth to President Trump's election-integrity executive order ahead of the November 2026 midterms.
The U.S. Postal Service gave every state election official a clear ultimatum this month: share your voter lists with the federal government or lose mail-ballot delivery. The proposed rule, published June 2 in the Federal Register, is the most direct step yet in the Trump administration's push to impose federal oversight on mail-in voting, and it sets up a high-stakes compliance test with November approaching fast.
Under the proposal, states must provide USPS with the name, address, and unique barcode of every voter scheduled to receive a mail-in or absentee ballot, submitted at least 30 days before ballots go out. The agency would build what the rule calls a "Mail-In and Absentee Participation List" for each state. Any ballot not matched to that list could be refused delivery. Any state that declines to participate faces the same outcome: its mail ballots simply would not move through the postal system, according to the rule text filed under 39 CFR Part 111. The public comment period closes July 2.
Supporters of the rule frame it as straightforward election bookkeeping. The stated goal, according to the Federal Register filing, is to allow a preliminary reconciliation of ballots so officials can identify whether more ballots are returned than were originally sent to voters. The Washington Times reported June 9 that USPS described the proposal as adding "security and transparency standards" to protect the integrity of federal elections, consistent with Trump Executive Order 14399, which the president signed in March directing federal agencies to tighten controls on mail voting.
The stakes fall hardest on states that conduct elections almost entirely by mail. Oregon, Washington, California, Colorado, Nevada, Hawaii, and Vermont all rely heavily on mail ballots, according to Votebeat's reporting on the proposed rule. If those states refuse to comply and USPS carries through, millions of voters could face significant disruption with no realistic time to rebuild in-person infrastructure before November. Washington's secretary of state has already raised concerns about the proposal's operational demands, the Lynnwood Times reported.
Opponents moved quickly to stop the rule in court, but have not yet succeeded. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee in Washington, D.C., declined on May 28 to block the underlying executive order, ruling largely on procedural grounds. Plaintiffs had not demonstrated the imminent harm needed to justify a pre-enforcement injunction, and the case was not yet ripe for review, Nichols found, according to NPR's reporting on the decision. He left open the possibility that challengers could return once the rule's effects become concrete.
They did not wait long. The NAACP Legal Defense Fund filed a motion on June 3 arguing the USPS proposal violates a 2021 legal settlement that required the Postal Service to prioritize timely delivery of election mail, according to the organization's press release. USPS had until June 11 to respond. Separately, 23 Democratic-led states and the District of Columbia have sued over the underlying executive order, arguing it exceeds presidential authority and intrudes on states' constitutional role in running elections, as PBS News and Reuters have reported. A federal judge in Boston was also weighing similar challenges, with a ruling expected as early as this summer.
The November Clock
Beyond the legal fight, there is a practical one. USPS would need to build the systems to receive, process, and match voter data from all 50 states before any of this functions in time for November. The agency has not publicly described how it would accomplish that, or on what schedule. Election officials in multiple states have told Votebeat they are skeptical the infrastructure could be ready in time. The Trump administration indicated in a separate court filing, reported by Democracy Docket, that it may seek additional time to implement the executive order, which suggests even the administration recognizes the operational challenge ahead.
With the comment period closing July 2 and the first ballots for November general elections potentially mailing in September, the window for compliance, litigation, and system-building is narrow. States that want to keep mail voting intact will have to decide soon whether to hand over their voter data or prepare for a legal and logistical battle. Either way, the rule has already forced that choice into the open, and the courts will likely have the final word on whether it ever takes effect.
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