Trump Orders USPS to Restrict Mail-In Ballots to Verified Citizens

On March 31, 2026, Donald Trump signed an executive order titled "Ensuring Citizenship Verification and Integrity in Federal Elections" to restrict mail-in voting and assert federal control over election integrity. The order directs the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration to create "State Citizenship Lists" of eligible adult citizens. It further mandates that the United States Postal Service (USPS) deliver absentee ballots only to individuals on these verified lists and requires the use of secure envelopes with unique tracking barcodes. Trump justified the move by claiming that "the cheating on mail-in voting is legendary."

To implement the directive, the USPS proposed new rules on May 29, 2026, requiring states to provide detailed voter-level data 60 days before federal elections or risk the non-delivery of ballots. The administration also threatened to withhold federal funding from non-compliant states and tasked the Department of Justice with prosecuting officials who distribute ballots to ineligible voters. The Department of Justice subsequently sued 30 states to compel the release of unredacted voter rolls for verification via the SAVE system.

Opponents, including a coalition of 23 Democratic-led states and organizations like the NAACP and ACLU, have filed at least five lawsuits in Massachusetts and Washington, D.C. They argue the order is an unconstitutional power grab that violates state authority over elections. While a federal judge in Washington, D.C., declined to immediately block the order in late May, other legal challenges remain pending. Local election officials have warned that the requirements create a "logistical nightmare" that could disenfranchise eligible voters before the November midterm elections.