The United States Postal Service filed a proposed rule on May 29 that would prohibit absentee/mail-in ballots for general elections from being delivered to anyone not on a list provided to USPS by state election officials. The proposed rule was published in the Federal Register on June 2.
Under the rule, states would submit to USPS the names of absentee/mail-in voters, as well as "the unique barcode applied to the outbound and return ballot mail envelope for such individuals." States would be allowed to modify this list up to the final day for sending out absentee/mail-in ballots. The rule would not apply to primary elections or to military or overseas voters.
President Donald Trump (R) issued Executive Order 14399, "Ensuring Citizenship Verification and Integrity in Federal Elections," on March 31, 2026. In supplementary background on the rule, USPS states, "The Executive Order discusses the importance of additional measures concerning the use of the mails to vote in federal elections, in order to facilitate enforcement of federal law, reduce the risk of fraud, and help protect the integrity of federal elections. ... [T]he Postal Service issues this proposed rule regarding the preparation of ballot mail for federal elections to facilitate the enforcement of federal law."
