USPS issues rule to tighten requirements for mail-in voting despite courts looking to block

The United States Postal Service (USPS) announced Friday new eligibility guidelines for mail-in ballots, complying with President Trump’s March executive order restricting the practice — despite a federal court later striking it down .

USPS’s 95-page unpublished report , slated for an official release on Aug. 26, detailed how it would distribute mail-in ballots for November’s midterms. The requirements closely resemble Trump’s blocked mandate, which ordered states to submit a list of eligible citizens if they want their voters to received mail-in ballots.

The service’s new policy, echoing Trump’s order, gives states 60 days before the Nov. 3 midterms to notify USPS if they intend to submit a list of eligible voters based on citizenship data. Only then will USPS send mail-in or absentee ballots to the states’ respective residents.

In June, Postmaster General David Steiner affirmed his intention to comply with the president’s directive, telling senators in June that the policy will ensure “the right ballots are going to the right people.”

Two months later, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani moved to block the order’s enforcement nationwide, arguing its implementation would create unnecessary “confusion” and “chaos” ahead of November’s midterms.

“That it is now less than 90 days before the November 3, 2026 midterm elections underscores the critical need for an injunction to prevent Defendants from changing election rules on the eve of the election,” Talwani wrote in her ruling.

In response to the judge’s ruling, White House spokesperson Lauren Bis told The Hill the administration “will continue lawfully enacting the agenda President Trump was elected to enact — which includes the safety and security of American elections.”

Trump has been a critic of mail-in ballots , frequently reiterating unproven claims that the voting method has been a vehicle for widespread voter fraud.

In late June, the president slammed a Supreme Court decision that affirmed mail-in ballots may count if they are postmarked by Election Day but arrive afterward. The president called it a “tremendous loss in the Supreme Court.”

Nearly a third of ballots cast in the 2024 general election were submitted by mail, according to a June U.S. Election Assistance Commission report . The ballots accounted for 30.3 percent of votes cast that year, well above pre-pandemic levels.

During an August interview, Trump did not rule out the possibility of declaring a state of national emergency if the Senate did not pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility ( SAVE America ) Act — a federal law that would require Americans to show proof of citizenship to register to vote and present a photo ID at the polls.

“Let me just say that stranger things have happened, OK? I’ll leave it at that,” the president said.