🚨BREAKING: USPS Says New Mail-In Voting Restrictions Are Now in Effect Ahead of Midterms

The fight over mail-in voting just entered a much more serious phase.

The U.S. Postal Service said Thursday that its new requirements governing mail ballots are now in effect, clearing the way for implementation of controversial changes stemming from President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting mail voting ahead of the November midterm elections.

The development comes just days after the Supreme Court handed the Trump administration a procedural victory and one day after a federal judge removed another major legal obstacle preventing USPS from implementing the rules.

But there is an extremely important distinction here:

The Supreme Court did not rule that Trump’s mail-voting restrictions are constitutional.

The Court concluded that an earlier challenge brought by states was premature because the government had not yet implemented the policy and therefore the states had not demonstrated the concrete injury necessary to bring that challenge.

Now the policy is being implemented.

And the lawsuits have already started again.

What the USPS rule does

The new rule creates federal requirements governing how states use USPS to distribute ballots for federal elections.

Among the requirements are new standards for ballot envelopes, unique Intelligent Mail barcodes and a system requiring states to provide information about voters receiving mail ballots through a USPS portal.

USPS says the rule regulates how federal ballot mail enters the postal system rather than determining who is eligible to vote.

But states challenging the policy argue that the practical consequences could be enormous.

Under the rule, USPS can refuse to accept outbound federal ballot mail that does not satisfy the new requirements.

That means election officials across the country are potentially being forced to overhaul systems that were already prepared for an election just over two months away.

Washington could be hit especially hard

This isn’t an abstract fight for Washington.

Washington conducts its elections almost entirely through vote-by-mail, and state officials are now among those leading the legal effort against the federal government.

Washington Attorney General Nick Brown is co-leading a coalition challenging the USPS rule.

According to Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs, counties have already printed more than 5 million ballot envelopes for November that could have to be destroyed and replaced to comply with the federal requirements.

Washington officials also warn that election workers could be forced to upload information covering millions of voters into the new USPS system and comply with additional ballot-verification procedures weeks before voting begins.

Brown has been unequivocal about the state’s position:

States control elections, not the president.

How did we get here?

President Trump issued the executive order in March as part of his effort to impose new federal restrictions on mail voting.

Multiple states challenged the order.

Federal courts initially blocked significant portions of it, but on Monday the Supreme Court’s conservative majority lifted one of those injunctions.

Crucially, the justices did not determine whether Trump’s restrictions themselves are lawful.

The Court specifically left that question unresolved.

Then Wednesday, Judge Indira Talwani lifted a separate nationwide injunction that had prevented USPS from implementing the ballot-mail provisions.

That removed the final major judicial barrier standing between USPS and implementation of the rule.

Thursday, USPS said the requirements are now in effect.

The legal fight is already back

This isn’t over.

Washington, California, Massachusetts, Nevada and a broader coalition of states have launched a new challenge against USPS now that the rule has actually been finalized.

Voting-rights organizations are pursuing their own emergency challenge as well.

They are asking the courts to stop implementation before ballots begin moving through the mail.

That timeline matters enormously.

The November 3 midterm elections are approaching quickly, and election officials normally spend months preparing ballot designs, mailing systems, voter databases and procedures.

Changing those systems immediately before an election creates exactly the kind of uncertainty states warned courts about throughout this case.

What voters should know

This does not mean mail-in voting has been eliminated.

It also does not mean your ballot automatically won’t be counted.

State election laws still determine voter eligibility and whether completed ballots qualify to be counted.

But the federal government is now attempting to impose new requirements on how ballots travel through USPS, and states argue those requirements could prevent eligible voters from receiving ballots in the first place.

For Washington voters especially, this story matters.

Vote-by-mail isn’t a secondary voting option here. It is the backbone of the state’s election system.

And with Washington now helping lead the lawsuit against USPS, the state is positioned directly at the center of what could become one of the most consequential election-law battles before the 2026 midterms.

This story is developing.