USPS Final Rule on Ballot Mail for Federal Elections: What Counties Need to Know

Applies to blank ballots counties mail to voters and to the return envelopes voters use, for federal general, special and runoff elections. Primaries, state-and-local-only elections and UOCAVA ballots are excluded. Where a county mails a ballot carrying both federal and state contests — the norm in most counties — the entire mailing is treated as federal ballot mail and the rule applies in full.

A state chief election official may notify USPS at least 90 days before a federal election of intent to use the mail for ballots. It is optional, is not binding and requires no lists. Counties have no role, and the absence of notice does not prevent a county from enrolling later. The window for November 3, 2026 has already closed.

Both outbound and return envelopes must carry the Official Election Mail logo, be automation compatible, and bear the voter's unique IMb with delivery point ZIP and a federal ballot identifier. Counties or their vendors are responsible for creating the barcodes and for envelope design and printing. State-required elements such as affidavits and accessibility features may be retained.

Counties must submit outbound and return envelopes to USPS for mail piece design review and receive feedback before ballots may be mailed. Review is required once per election cycle, and a single statewide design covers all subdivisions. USPS aims to return feedback within two business days.

Every jurisdiction mailing federal ballots must have a registered Portal account, completed no later than two business days before a mailing. The state chief election official authorizes all users, so counties cannot register on their own initiative. County staff, print vendors and mail service providers may all be authorized users, which allows a county to delegate data entry.

For every voter receiving a mail ballot, counties must upload the name and address as printed on the envelope, the outbound barcode, the return barcode and the originating state. No date of birth, Social Security number or other registration detail is collected. The data must be in the Portal before the mailing is presented for acceptance. 

Data is due at least 30 days before the election "to the extent practicable," or by the state-law date ballots begin going out. Counties may make supplemental submissions for late registrants, new requests and replacement ballots until the last day ballots may be mailed under state law. 

USPS compiles each state's participation list and returns it to the chief election official on or about the date of the election, containing only what the state submitted. Counties would receive it, if at all, through the state and after the mailing period has closed.

Counties must enter outbound federal ballot mail at a BMEU or a USPS retail counter, including manual post offices. Collection boxes and retail lobby boxes are prohibited. Counties should tell the postal clerk handling the mailing if it contains non-federal ballots.

Before accepting a county's mailing, USPS evaluates whether it meets the outbound envelope standards and whether it is going to individuals enrolled in the Portal. USPS states it will not compare data against voter rolls, evaluate individual voters, determine eligibility or open ballot mail – it is checking whether the voter appears on the list the state election official submitted to the Portal, not whether the voter is eligible. 

A noncompliant mailing is not accepted and is returned to the county, which must correct the errors before resubmitting. The county may request further USPS review of a refusal. USPS rejects the entire mailing rather than the individual piece, and the rule contains no piece-level severability. The rule provides no safe harbor for minor or correctable defects, no guaranteed acceptance during Portal outages and no emergency escalation for replacement and court-ordered ballots.

Receipt of a mailing does not constitute verified compliance, counties should not treat USPS accepting ballots as proof of compliance. USPS assumes no responsibility for a mailing until it enters the mail stream, and none for service delays where the county or its vendor did not meet the standards. States are fully responsible for maintaining the accuracy and contents of their lists.

There is no process for an individual voter to appeal exclusion from a participation list or the return of a mailing. Appeal rights run to the county as ballot mailer, not to the voter, and access to the list is limited to personnel whose duties require it. A voter would generally not learn of a problem until a ballot failed to arrive and would then call the county.

A system of records notice – a formal government notice describing how personal data will be used – published July 17, 2026, sets a five-year retention period, encryption of online transmissions and access limited by badge and log-on to personnel whose duties require it. Lists are not publicly disclosed. USPS grounds retention in part on law enforcement authority. Counties collected this data from residents under state law and would field questions about where it went.

USPS states that only the name and address printed on the outside of the envelope must be submitted — for a program participant, the substitute address rather than the confidential one — that confidential information known only to the state need not be provided and that the rule is compatible with state programs. It does not address participants whose names are also protected. 

The rule provides no funding for the Portal, for state integration or for county compliance. USPS states it is prepared to implement within available resources and that the rule falls outside the Paperwork Reduction Act – the law that normally requires government to study the cost of new data-collection requirements – so no burden or cost analysis was conducted. Envelope redesign and reprinting, barcode capability, system changes, staff time, training and voter communication would be absorbed locally.