Postal Service Moves to Lock Down Ballot Mail
Published Date: 6/2/2026
Proposed Rule
Summary
The Postal Service wants to update how mail-in ballots for federal elections are handled to make voting safer and reduce fraud. This change affects voters, election officials, and postal workers, aiming to protect election integrity without extra costs. Comments on the proposal are open until July 2, 2026, so everyone can share their thoughts before it’s finalized.
Analyzed Economic Effects
6 provisions identified: 3 benefits, 3 costs, 0 mixed.
New Envelope and Barcode Rules
If you send mail-in or absentee ballots for federal general, special, or runoff elections (not UOCAVA), each outbound and return envelope must include the official Election Mail logo, be automation compatible, and bear a unique Intelligent Mail barcode (IMb) with the Delivery Point ZIP Code and a Federal Ballot Mail service-type identifier. Mailpiece design and barcode placement must undergo review by the Postal Service before use.
State Portal Enrollment and Data Submission
State chief election officials and their authorized Ballot Portal Users must register for the Postal Service Federal Ballot Mail Portal and submit, for each outbound mailing, the name and address of each recipient plus the unique outbound and return IMb and the originating election office state. That information must be provided at least 30 days before the federal election, to the extent practicable, or by the date ballots may begin to be mailed under state law, and portal registration must be completed no later than two business days before an outbound mailing.
USPS Verification and Return of Noncompliant Mailings
The Postal Service will verify outbound ballot mailings before acceptance to confirm they meet the envelope and enrollment standards; mailings that fail verification will not be accepted and will be returned to the authorized ballot mailer until corrected. Mailings of 200 or more pieces of Marketing Mail or 500 or more pieces of First‑Class Mail must be entered at a facility that performs business mail acceptance functions.
State Lists of Ballot Recipients Shared
On or about the date of the federal election, the Postal Service will provide each state's chief election official a state-specific Mail-In and Absentee Participant List that contains the name and address of each enrolled individual plus the unique IMb associated with the outbound and return ballot envelopes. The Postal Service says these lists will help determine adherence to federal law and help law enforcement compare mailed versus received ballots.
USPS Continues Faster Ballot Delivery
The Postal Service will continue to perform its prior 'extraordinary measures' to accelerate delivery of completed return ballots and will issue further guidance before the general election on November 3, 2026. These measures are intended to return ballots faster than ordinary mail processes would permit.
UOCAVA and Primaries Left Out
The new DMM standards do not apply to ballots mailed under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) and do not apply to primary elections. The Postal Service notes UOCAVA ballots follow a separate federal statutory scheme with different timing constraints.
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Key Dates
Related Federal Register Documents
2026-18371, Labels 888, 889, 891, and 892, Discontinued
The Postal Service is proposing to amend Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM[supreg]) to discontinue the use of Label 888 and Label 889 respectively. Revisions to the DMM concern only Labels 888 and 889.
2026-17884, Free Matter for the Blind and Other Physically Handicapped Persons
The Postal Service is revising Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM[supreg]) to clarify the applicability of the Hazmat Handling Fee, and to require a parcel barcode, on parcels mailed as Free Matter for the Blind and Other Physically Handicapped Persons (Free Matter).
2026-17986, Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records
The United States Postal Service (USPS) is responding to public comments regarding the creation of a new General Privacy Act System of Records (SOR) USPS 820.225, Federal Ballot Mail. The new SOR coincides with the Postal Service's publication of the Final Rule amending the Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM), regarding the transmission of mail-in or absentee ballots for federal elections. The Postal Service created the SOR to maintain a list of individuals, each individual's address, the unique Intelligent Mail barcodes printed on each individual's outbound and return ballot envelope for a federal election, and the state or political subdivision thereof that issued such ballot for inclusion on a state's Mail-in and Absentee Participation List, as required by the new DMM section. There will be no changes to the new system of records in light of public comments received.
2026-17640, Change in Rates of General Applicability for Competitive Products
This notice sets forth time-limited changes in rates of general applicability for competitive products.
2026-16016, New Mailing Standards for Live Animals
The Postal Service proposes revising Publication 52, Hazardous, Restricted, and Perishable Mail (Pub 52), for various package requirements for live animals. This proposal will improve package integrity and container identification for all live animal shipments during processing and handling by prohibiting the reuse of fiberboard containers and requiring individual addressing and sequential numbering for multiple container shipments when bound together in a single shipment. Also, this proposal requires mailers to write the recipient's name and address directly on the packaging of Adult Bird shipments in the event the shipping label becomes detached from the packaging.
2026-15420, Duty Collection for Domestic Mail Arriving From Certain Insular Possessions and Territories
The Postal Service is revising Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM[supreg]), section 608, to provide instructions for customs clearance and the prepayment of applicable customs duties, taxes, and fees for certain goods mailed from American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and U.S. Virgin Islands destined to the customs territory of the United States (CTUS), which is defined in 19 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 101.1 as the fifty States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
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