The Postal Service published a proposed rule regarding the transmission of mail-in or absentee ballots for federal elections, as directed to by the White House Executive Order. Comments are due by July 2nd. After all comments are received and reviewed, the next step in the process is for the USPS to publish a final rule to enact the proposed changes.
In the last postal update we shared the core requirements of the new proposed rule, which are: mandatory preparation, tracking, and list-enrollment guidelines for mail-in and absentee ballots used in federal elections.
Since that time, there have been two major developments:
- A coalition of 23 Democratic-led states (including the District of Columbia) has filed a major lawsuit to block the Trump administration’s executive order and the resulting U.S. Postal Service (USPS) proposed rule aimed at restricting mail-in ballots. We will watch that play out in court and update you of any final verdicts of impact to USPS operations.
- A private party has initiated a petition to the PRC to request they open a mail classification case to make ballot mail a unique market dominant stand alone product.
- The Request: The petitioners request that all variations of official election-related mail (to/from voters, ballots, registration cards, etc.) be officially codified as a Market-Dominant class of mail.
Service Standards: To protect against disenfranchisement, the petitioners also request that the Mail Classification Schedule (MCS) codification mandate absolute reliability from the USPS, including:
- 100% guaranteed delivery of ballots by the applicable Election Day deadline using the fastest available services (including same-day or next-day express if required).
- A clear, reliable postmark on all Election Mail showing the exact date of entry into the mail system, with zero burden placed on the voter to request it manually.
- Free postage for voters, arguing that charging voters to mail a ballot violates the 14th Amendment (Equal Protection) and the 24th Amendment (prohibition of poll taxes).
