Overview
- Postmaster General David Steiner defended the rule at a Senate Homeland Security hearing on Wednesday and said the Postal Service could withhold ballot delivery from states that do not provide voter lists and unique ballot barcodes.
- The proposed regulation would require states to submit names and addresses of voters sent mail‑in or absentee ballots and to provide unique barcodes for outbound and return ballot envelopes to allow USPS to match mailed and returned ballots.
- All 47 Senate Democrats sent a formal letter urging USPS to withdraw the rule, calling it unconstitutional and warning it would transform the Postal Service into a federal election administrator with power to disenfranchise voters.
- Legal challenges to President Trump’s March executive order that prompted the rule are already moving through federal court and judges have allowed lawsuits by states and voting‑rights groups to proceed, leaving implementation uncertain before the November midterms.
- Civil‑liberties and election officials warn the plan would centralize sensitive participation data, raising privacy and security risks for voters and practical problems for states that use universal mail voting such as California, Colorado and Utah.