This illustration taken on October 21, 2025 in Encinitas, California, USA, shows a mail-in ballot featuring California’s Proposition 50.
Mike Blake | Reuters
The U.S. Postal Service on Friday proposed new rules that would require states to provide voter-level data on mail-in ballots in federal elections, a day after a federal judge refused to immediately block President Donald Trump’s executive order tightening mail-in voting rules.
The proposal would require states to submit to the Postal Service the names and addresses of voters receiving mail-in or absentee ballots, as well as a unique barcode attached to each voter’s shipping envelope and return ballot.
USPS said the rule will help determine the number of mailed ballots and allow officials to compare that number to the number of returned ballots to detect potential problems for further investigation.
The rule applies to general elections, special elections, and runoff federal elections, but does not apply to primary elections or to ballots sent to military or overseas voters.
The proposal would move the USPS from encouraging mail-in ballots to requiring them in federal elections. The rules require an official logo, tracking barcodes and a reporting system that ties voters to specific envelopes.
USPS will use this data to create state-specific “mail recipient and absentee participation lists” through the new Federal Ballot Mail Portal. The proposal would also allow the USPS to return mailed federal ballots that do not meet new standards or are not associated with state-submitted voter lists.
States would continue to control who is eligible to vote by mail. The constitution specifies that the states, rather than the federal government, oversee most election-related functions.
The rule follows President Trump’s March 31 Election Executive Order, which directed the USPS to begin developing rules for mail-in voting and absentee voting services.
A federal judge on Thursday declined to immediately block the order’s vote-by-mail provisions, ruling that the challenge was premature because the agency had not yet implemented the challenge.
The White House did not respond to requests for comment.
The judge’s ruling Thursday left open the possibility that Democrats could challenge the policy again if the administration takes further steps to implement it.
Democrats and many voting rights groups say President Trump’s order infringes on states’ authority over elections and could make it harder to vote by mail. The administration has previously defended measures to tighten the process as election integrity measures.
The proposed rule is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on June 2. Public comments will be submitted 30 days after publication.
