Gov. Josh Shapiro and Progressive Coalition Stand Against USPS Voter Suppression Rule
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Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro has joined a coalition of 23 states and Washington, D.C. in a federal lawsuit to resist a new U.S. Postal Service rule that threatens to undermine mail-in voting rights ahead of the November midterms.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro announced his alliance with attorneys general from 23 states and the District of Columbia in a lawsuit against the U.S. Postal Service, challenging a reactionary rule targeting mail-in ballots. The rule, cynically titled 'Ballot Mail for Federal Elections,' imposes bureaucratic hurdles by requiring election officials to submit recipient information and ballot-envelope designs to a USPS portal for approval, and mandates the use of trackable barcodes on mail-in ballots—measures that could intimidate voters and suppress turnout.
The states argue that this rule represents a dangerous overreach by the Postal Service, expanding its role in elections in ways that threaten voter privacy and force officials to adopt new, burdensome procedures. By compelling states to share sensitive voter data and bypassing Congress’s constitutional authority over election regulations, the rule undermines democratic norms. In their 53-page complaint, the coalition asserts that only Congress—not the president or an unelected agency—has the power to set election rules, and that the Postal Service failed to follow the required public review processes for sweeping operational changes.
The coalition is seeking a court order to halt this anti-democratic rule while the case proceeds, and ultimately to have it struck down. Their legal challenge comes on the heels of a Supreme Court decision that, on procedural grounds, stayed an earlier injunction against parts of the Trump administration’s mail-voting executive order, highlighting the ongoing judicial obstacles to voting rights.
'I’m suing the Trump Administration to stop their unconstitutional attempt to change the rules and restrict mail-in voting,' Shapiro declared on X, reaffirming his commitment to defending Pennsylvania’s free, fair, safe, and secure elections against right-wing interference.
The White House, doubling down on its anti-voter agenda, issued a statement claiming the Supreme Court ruling was a victory for 'election security,' signaling its intent to continue undermining access to the ballot.
The Postal Service, complicit in this attack on democracy, declined to comment before publication.