USPS releases its final rule affecting mail-in voting for federal elections

Key Takeaways

On August 26, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) released its final rule with an effective date of August 21, to impose new mandates on how mail-in and absentee ballot voting must be conducted by states for federal elections following a directive in the White House’s Executive Order (EO) 14399. The rule creates new mail-in ballot requirements and establishes a new national online portal controlled by the chief state election official that requires authorized elections administrators to register all voters receiving a mail-in ballot.  

However, the final rule’s implementation is still under question, as it is currently making its way through the court system. On August 27, a federal judge granted a temporary, 14-day block on the rule’s implementation. A group of 24 states the District of Columbia also filed a lawsuit to block USPS from enforcing the final rule.

Learn more about the status of the rule

What does the rule do?

The USPS rule sets new standards for how ballots get mailed out in federal elections. There are two overarching parts:

• New envelope design rules: Ballot envelopes need to meet new formatting requirements – this applies both to outgoing ballots and to the return envelopes voters use to send them back.
• A new verification step for outgoing ballots: Before a county can mail ballots to voters, election officials must upload voter mailing data to a new USPS system called the Federal Ballot Mail Portal. USPS then checks the barcode on the ballot batch against what was submitted. If a mailing doesn’t match up or doesn’t meet the design standards, USPS won’t accept it – it gets kicked back to the county to fix and resubmit.

Specific rule changes are as follows:

Envelope requirements

• Requires envelopes containing outbound federal ballot mail and return federal ballot mail to:
  • Include the official election mail logo
  • Be automation compatible
  • Include the voter’s unique Intelligent Mail barcode (IMb), with an embedded delivery point ZIP code
  • Include a new Federal Ballot Mail Service Type Identifier (STID) that is distinct from non-federal election mail
• Requires states to submit and receive approval from USPS on their envelopes prior to mail-in voting beginning.

Advance notification of mail-in voting to USPS

• Provides that a state chief elections officer may voluntarily notify USPS at least 90 days in advance of the federal election of their intent to use USPS for sending and receiving mail-in ballots.
• Stipulates that states who opt out of using USPS as their mailing service for federal elections still must enter mail-in voter data on the USPS Federal Ballot Mail Portal

Federal Ballot Mail Portal

• Creates a new national portal that allows the USPS to access data for voters requesting a mail-in ballot across states, including the voter’s name, address, state and unique IMb. 
• Directs each state’s chief elections officer to organize how this data is entered into the portal. County election administrators would have to receive approval from their state’s chief elections officer to be able to register voters on the portal. 
• Authorized portal users cannot register voters in the portal until approval of their mailing envelopes is complete. 
• Portal users must enter voter information at least 30 days before the federal election or by the day on which mail-in ballots can begin to be mailed under state law.

Outbound federal ballot mail verification

• Requires that outbound federal ballot mail is presented at a USPS retail counter or Business Mail Entry Unit (BMEU), not a blue collection box. 
• Requires USPS employees to scan IMbs and confirm that voter information matches portal data. 
• Exempts USPS from responsibility for ballots until they’re verified against portal data. 

What does this mean for counties?

Counties play an essential role in administering federal, state and local elections. This rule adds new administrative burdens for counties a little more than only two months out from federal mid-term elections. 

It requires counties to redesign ballot envelopes and have those designs approved by USPS, even though several counties have already finished designing and ordering their ballot envelopes that may not comply with these requirements. The portal data entry requirements increase strain on county elections administrators who may have to enter all the individual data and supplant county authority over administering mail-in ballots by forcing them to rely on the state’s chief elections officer for access to the portal. 

These administrative requirements so close to the general election pose serious challenges to counties that want to ensure safe and secure elections for their citizens.