Postal Regulatory Commission Sued Over Rule Restricting Last-Minute Mail-in Ballot Postmarks

WASHINGTON, DC — A coalition of non-partisan voting rights organizations and state attorneys general filed federal lawsuits on Saturday challenging a newly finalized United States Postal Service (USPS) administrative regulation governing mail-in ballot processing.

The New Regulation and Statutory Conflict

The contested USPS rule requires mail-in ballots deposited in municipal collection boxes on Election Day to undergo regional distribution centre cancellation scans rather than immediate local postmarking by retail postal workers. Election administrators warn that in rural and suburban counties, transit delays to regional sorting hubs could result in valid ballots receiving next-day postmarks, disqualifying them under strict state statutory receipt deadlines.

The plaintiffs argue that the regulation violates the Postal Reorganization Act and infringes upon state constitutional authority to administer federal elections under Article I, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution.

Impact on 2026 Midterm Primaries

More than thirty U.S. states permit mail-in ballots to be counted if they are postmarked by Election Day, even if they arrive at county election boards several days later. State election directors in Nevada, Pennsylvania, California, and Michigan expressed concern that the rule creates severe voter confusion and risks disenfranchising thousands of eligible voters.

USPS leadership defended the measure as an operational standardization necessary to improve logistics tracking and prevent discrepancies between local hand-stamps and high-speed automated sorting data.

Emergency Court Proceedings

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia scheduled an expedited preliminary injunction hearing for Friday, August 28, to determine whether the rule will be stayed prior to general election mailings.