If the U.S. Postal Service gets its way, some major changes are coming for mail-in ballots. It is a welcome prospect at a time when USPS budgets are shrinking and delivery times are getting longer.
On June 2, USPS began a 30-day public comment period on its proposed rule to add security and transparency requirements for mail-in ballots. The proposed rule stressed the importance of additional security measures “to facilitate the enforcement of federal law, reduce the risk of fraud and help protect the integrity of federal elections.”
This flows from President Trump’s Executive Order 14399, Ensuring Citizenship Verification and Integrity of Federal Elections. The executive order directed USPS to initiate rulemaking to require that all mail and absentee ballots be placed in secure ballot envelopes marked with the official Election Mail logo. It also requires Intelligent Mail Barcodes to track ballots throughout the entire mailing process.
All ballot envelopes would need to interact with automated systems so USPS can scan them to monitor whether they are moving expeditiously through the processing facility, thereby increasing the chance that ballots are returned in time to be counted.
One of the unique features of the proposed rule is a “Mail-In and Absentee Participation List” for each state. It suggests a pre-mailing notice to USPS from each state’s chief election official, listing the voters to be included on the official mailing list and the unique barcode associated with each voter.
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