The United States Postal Service (USPS) has released the final draft of proposed rules that would limit the use of mail-in voting under President Donald Trump.
The rule has so far been blocked by the U.S. court system. However, the USPS shared a 95-page update on Friday that allows the rule to take effect immediately if an existing court injunction is revoked.
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Under the proposed rules, the Postal Service would not distribute mail-in ballots in states that do not comply with federal requirements for voter records.
Each state must identify voters who have requested a mail-in ballot to the USPS. It would also require redesigning voting envelopes with barcodes that the Postal Service could use to track and identify voting materials.
The USPS argued in a 95-page document that such changes were necessary to ensure compliance with federal law.
“These requirements do not constitute election administration and do not infringe on national resources,” the document states. “Rather, we regulate the use of the mail to improve operational efficiency and support the faithful enforcement of federal law.”
But critics have accused the Trump administration of seeking to extend federal oversight to election administration, which states are required to do under the U.S. Constitution.
They warn that the Postal Service could use the proposed rules to collect voter information and reject ballots in states that don’t comply with President Trump’s demands.
Since returning to office for a second term in 2025, President Trump has sought to impose additional restrictions on voting based on false claims of widespread election fraud.
For example, he continued to claim that he was the rightful winner of the 2020 presidential election, but lost the campaign.
President Trump has also used claims of “fraudulent” voting to cast doubt on other elections that turned out against him.
For example, earlier this year he accused California of “rigging” its primary after several Republican candidates fell short of his expectations.
Voting by mail has long been a focus of President Trump’s efforts to tighten control over the electoral process. Trump has criticized this voting method as ripe for fraud, an unsubstantiated claim, but he himself has voted by mail many times, including in this month’s Florida primary.
Repeated studies have shown that election fraud is extremely rare in the United States. Every state has laws prohibiting noncitizen voting and voter fraud.
However, President Trump issued an executive order in March directing the Postal Service to implement new rules regarding mail-in voting. Friday’s 95-page document is in response to that request.
Control of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives will be on the ballot in November, with Democrats hoping to take back one or both chambers of Congress.
Leaders in 23 states and the District of Columbia immediately objected to the Trump administration’s plan to impose new rules on mail-in voting.
A group of voting rights organizations also filed a separate lawsuit for the same purpose.
In June, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani blocked the rule from taking effect, stating that while states can choose their own rules, the federal government cannot mandate policies like barcoding.
Talwani issued his second ruling on Aug. 11, this time taking up a lawsuit brought by voting rights groups. Noting that there were less than 90 days left until the midterm race, she re-issued a preliminary injunction blocking the rule from taking effect.
“In the context of[Trump’s Executive Order]currently causing chaos and threatening both increased chaos and diminished faith in our democracy, the Court has found that the right to vote far outweighs any attempt by the executive branch to unconstitutionally intervene in the area of election regulation,” Talwani wrote.
Still, Postmaster General David Steiner defended the Trump administration’s plan, arguing in June that the rule would ensure postal workers “match the ballots that states believe they are sending out with the votes that are actually being sent out.”
After voting rules were published online Friday night, critics denounced efforts to push for restrictions.
“Late tonight, the USPS caved in to Trump,” voting rights activist and Trump critic Marc Elias wrote in a social media post Saturday.
Democratic lawmakers have similarly argued that the Postal Service is seeking to restructure election rules ahead of the midterm elections in the coming months.
