On March 31, 2026, President Donald Trump issued Executive Order (EO) 14399, “Ensuring Citizenship Verification and Integrity in Federal Elections.” The order states “unique ballot envelope identifiers, such as bar codes, enable confirmation that only citizens receive and cast ballots, reducing the risk of fraud and protecting the integrity of Federal elections.” In addition to provisions for other agencies, the order directs the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to issue regulations establishing uniform standards for mail-in or absentee ballots for federal elections. These standards include many of the election mail guidelines that USPS has recommended but has not required.
On August 26, 2026, USPS issued a final rule, “Ballot Mail for Federal Elections,” effective August 21, 2026. The rule adds a new section to USPS’s Domestic Mail Manual (DMM) and includes many of the standards and procedural changes addressed in the EO. Under the rule, outbound federal ballot mailings that do not comply with the rule’s design standards or that are addressed to individuals not on the state’s mail-in and absentee participation list, as submitted to USPS, “will not be accepted” for delivery by USPS.
USPS notes in publishing this final rule that two injunctions were in place prohibiting it from fully implementing the EO and that while the rule is final and in effect, it “will not take actions to implement the rule specifically for the 2026 election unless and until the government obtains relief from those injunctions.” On August 24, 2026, one injunction was stayed by the Supreme Court, and on August 26, 2026, the other was vacated by the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
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