USPS moves ahead with rule demanding voter data from states despite court blocks
The United States Postal Service plans to publish a rule that would require states to provide voter information to federal agencies before the 2024 midterm elections, even though two federal courts have issued injunctions against the measure.
The United States Postal Service said it will issue a final rule that obliges states to supply the Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies with voter lists and related data before the November midterm elections. The rule, slated for publication in the Federal Register next week, acknowledges that injunctions from federal courts in California and Massachusetts currently prevent its implementation.
Under the proposed regulation, states that do not provide the required information could have their mail-in ballots withheld by the USPS. The federal government has already sued 30 states and the District of Columbia for refusing to share eligible-voter lists.
The agency’s text states that if the injunctions are lifted, the rule would take effect immediately to give election officials time to meet preparation standards for federal ballot-mail envelopes and to submit data to a new Federal Ballot Mail Portal. The portal would become active when the system of records governing it is published.
The rule stems from an executive order issued in March that bars the USPS from delivering ballots to voters not on a federal list of eligible citizens compiled by the Department of Homeland Security. The USPS said it received more than 200,000 comments during the public comment period on the proposal.