US Postal Service shares mail-in ballot restrictions despite court ruling

The United States Postal Service (USPS) has published a final draft of its proposed rules to restrict the use of mail-in ballots under President Donald Trump .

The rules have so far been blocked by the US court system. But the USPS shared the 95-page update on Friday so that the rules can go into effect immediately if the existing court injunction is reversed.

Under the proposed rules, the Postal Service will not distribute mail-in ballots in states that do not comply with federal demands for voter records.

States would be required to identify to the USPS any voters who have requested mail-in ballots. They would also have to redesign the ballot envelopes to feature barcodes that the Postal Service could use to track and identify voting materials.

In the 95-page document, the USPS argued that such changes were necessary to ensure compliance with federal law.

“These requirements do not amount to election administration, nor do they usurp state resources,” the document said. “Rather, they regulate the use of the mail to improve operational efficiency and support the faithful execution of federal law.”

But critics have accused the Trump administration of seeking to exert federal oversight on election administration, a task that falls to the states under the US Constitution.

They warn that the Postal Service could use the proposed rules to gather voter information and reject ballots in states that do not comply with Trump’s demands.