The United States Postal Service has published a new rule to add verification requirements for mail-in ballots. Under the proposal, states would need to collect basic voter information, such as a person’s name and home address, and enter it into a federal ballot mail portal before it can be accepted by the mail service.
“No other voter information, such as birthdate, social security number or other voter registration details, will be uploaded to the portal,” the USPS said in a final rule it published Friday to amend the mailing standards of the agency regarding the transmission of mail-in and absentee ballots for federal elections.
The agency said the rule requires a unique barcode for every mail-in ballot that is distributed but does not involve or authorize the inspection of ballots’ contents, review of voters’ eligibility or auditing state voter rolls.
The rule change follows an executive order that President Donald Trump signed in March, titled “Ensuring Citizenship Verification and Integrity in Federal Elections,” which directed the Department of Homeland Security, in partnership with the Social Security Administration, to develop an approved list of mail-in or absentee voters.
It also directed the U.S. Postal Service to only send mail-in ballots to voters on the list and directed the attorney general to investigate ballots it deemed to be wrongfully distributed.
Following the order, the Postal Service conducted an interagency review with the Office of Management and Budget, resulting in the new rule about how mail-in ballots for federal elections must be prepared.
In April, several states sued the Trump administration over the executive order. In July, a federal appeals court upheld the injunction that a district judge had issued to prevent any changes to mail-in ballots while the lawsuit continues.
The American Civil Liberties Union, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the League of Women Voters also sued, saying it was illegal for the Trump administration to restrict mail-in ballot delivery.
Because of current injunctions, the Postal Service said Friday it “will not take actions to implement the rule specifically for the 2026 election unless and until the government obtains relief from those injunctions.”
“The final rule is the latest development in President Trump’s broader campaign to seize sensitive voter data and exert federal control over how states administer elections,” the ACLU said in a statement Saturday in response to the USPS rule.
If the injunctions are lifted, USPS said it would immediately implement the new rule.
The USPS rule is the latest in a string of Trump administration efforts to enact strict voting conditions.
In June, the president abruptly canceled his signing of a major bipartisan housing bill to demand that senators pass the SAVE America Act, which requires proof of citizenship to register to vote and an ID to cast a ballot.
The House of Representatives passed the SAVE America Act three times, but it has failed to clear the Senate, where it needs 60 votes to pass in a chamber where Republicans control 53 seats.
Democrats in the House and Senate have repeatedly voted against the SAVE America Act, saying it is not about election security but voter suppression.
“Donald Trump is trying to interfere in the 2026 elections,” Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., wrote on X on Saturday. “We must not let him succeed.”