Earlier this month, the United States Postal Service (USPS) issued a proposed rule that would erect barriers to mail voting. The proposed amendments create unnecessary barriers to voting that could prevent eligible voters from receiving and returning their mail-in and absentee ballots and could disenfranchise eligible voters who are unable to vote in person.
Under the rule, USPS would need to verify that mailed ballots are being sent only to approved voters on a list supplied by states. This gives USPS a role in election administration that rightfully belongs to state and local election officials.
We all agree that election mail must be secure. But these new federal requirements would create barriers that could prevent eligible voters from exercising their right to vote.
Voting is a fundamental right that must be guaranteed. Voting by mail is part of that right and a critical part of the election process throughout the United States.
USPS is accepting public comment on the proposed rule until July 2 at 5 p.m. ET.
Defend the right to vote, protect mail voting, and ensure the role of states in the election process. Email your comment to PCFederalRegister@usps.gov, with the subject line “Ballot Mail.” Be sure to include your name and address.
Janice Langley
Joanne Schultz
Wendy Brown
League of Women Voters of San Luis Obispo County
This article appears in June 25 – July 2, 2026.
How, exactly, does requiring that ballots be mailed only to registered voters, disenfranchise anyone?
That’s already the law. Look it up. What isn’t law is the federal government’s executive branch (of which the USPS is part) having any role in our elections. The Constitution seems pretty clear on that, though I’m sure Alito and Thomas could reinterpret it somehow.
So you object to federal oversight of elections? Like has been done for decades to enforce rules requiring that minorities are given districts in which they dominate? Federal involvement is nothing new, and just ensuring that ballots are only sent to registered voters is hardly an onerous role.
I object to a current federal executive branch getting its hands on voter roles to pick and choose who can vote and who can’t. This administration has proven time and again that it will lie and ignore rules. Why is this even an issue? Every research study done on the subject has shown there is virtually zero voter fraud in this nation. Just because the president can somehow feel it in his fat gut that there’s cheating doesn’t make it true.
I obviously have no problem with the federal government in the form of a law passed in 1965 by Congress and signed by the president leveling the playing field for minorities. Unfortunately, an activist and rogue Supreme Court has destroyed what it took the civil rights movement decades to achieve. I guess old Jim Crow isn’t dead after all.
So federal participation in elections isn’t that much of a concern after all, and only bothers you when it might disadvantage Democrats by culling out dead people and noncitizens. The 1965 law didn’t level the playing field, but was gerrymandering to advantage a desired group over others.