Trump Mail-Voting Order and Postal Delays Raise Midterm Election Concerns/ TezzBuzz/ WASHINGTON/ J. Mansour/ North Carolina is beginning the nationwide distribution of midterm mail ballots as litigation continues over President Donald Trump’s effort to restrict the voting method. Election officials say voting by mail remains available and secure, but shifting postal operations and possible new federal requirements are creating uncertainty. Officials are urging voters to submit ballots early after several states reported increases in rejections caused by late postmarks.
Quick Look
- North Carolina is the first state to distribute mail ballots widely for the 2026 midterms.
- Mail voting was used by about one-third of U.S. voters in the last presidential election.
- Trump’s executive order would impose new voter-list, envelope and barcode requirements.
- Multiple lawsuits have delayed implementation of the order.
- The Supreme Court recently gave Trump a procedural victory without ruling on the policy’s legality.
- North Carolina officials say voters can continue casting ballots by mail.
- Postal operational changes are being blamed for late postmarks and rejected ballots.
- Nearly 150,000 California mail ballots were rejected in the June primary.
- Election groups are urging voters to return ballots as quickly as possible.
Deep Look
Midterm Mail Voting Gets Underway
Statewide mail voting for the 2026 midterm elections begins Friday amid continuing court battles over President Donald Trump’s attempt to restrict the practice and concerns that Postal Service operations could lead to more ballots being rejected.
North Carolina is scheduled to become the first state to distribute mail ballots widely. The November elections will determine control of Congress for the final two years of Trump’s term.
State officials said preparations were proceeding despite uncertainty surrounding the president’s executive order.
“We believe that we are well positioned,” Sam Hayes, executive director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections, said Thursday.
Mail voting has become an important part of the country’s election system, with roughly one-third of voters using it during the most recent presidential election.
Trump Seeks New Mail-Ballot Requirements
Trump has repeatedly criticized mail voting and falsely blamed it for his 2020 defeat by Democrat Joe Biden, although Trump himself has voted by mail on multiple occasions.
In March, the president signed an executive order imposing new requirements on states and voters.
The directive calls for states to submit eligible-voter lists to the Postal Service through an online portal. That system reportedly remains inactive. It also requires mail-ballot envelopes to comply with new Postal Service standards and carry barcodes.
Several lawsuits have prevented the full implementation of the order.
The U.S. Supreme Court recently issued a procedural decision favoring Trump without addressing the underlying legality of the restrictions. The administration appealed a separate ruling to the high court Thursday.
Election Officials Try to Reassure Voters
Officials say the litigation and repeated headlines about changing rules have confused some voters about whether mail voting remains available.
“The biggest part of this is that it has sparked questions about what it is. ‘What does this mean? What are you guys doing? Can I not vote by mail anymore?’” said Michael Dickerson, director of the Mecklenburg County Board of Elections.
“I just want people to be assured that, yes, you can still vote by mail,” he said, adding “it’s a safe and secure process.”
North Carolina election offices have continued preparing absentee ballots while monitoring the court proceedings.
In Wake County, employees have been processing online and paper ballot requests, coding ballots, conducting accuracy tests and assembling absentee-voting packages. Those packets include ballots, instructions and information about photo-identification requirements.
Approximately 5,000 ballots are expected to be sent in the county’s first distribution wave.
Dickerson said military and overseas voters could begin submitting ballots electronically as early as Saturday.
North Carolina Continues ‘Business as Usual’
Democratic North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson has joined litigation challenging Trump’s executive order and the related Postal Service requirements.
In a court filing, his office argued that it was “far too late in the election cycle to introduce such dramatic changes.” Implementing them now, the filing warned, would “imminently cause significant harm, confusion and disruption in North Carolina election administration.”
The Republican-controlled State Board of Elections has expressed confidence that it can conduct a secure election expected to attract strong turnout, partly because of a competitive U.S. Senate contest.
“It is business as usual, as far as I’m concerned,” Hayes said.
The board has taken preliminary steps toward compliance, including sending its ballot envelopes to the Postal Service for review. Hayes said the envelopes were approved.
North Carolina has not submitted its voter information through the proposed federal portal while litigation remains unresolved.
Whistleblower Warns About Untested Portal
A whistleblower told Congress that the Postal Service is rushing to implement an untested portal that could contain widespread errors.
The whistleblower warned that those problems could cause millions of ballots to be rejected.
The Postal Service has declined to discuss its efforts to comply with the executive order because of the ongoing litigation.
In the meantime, voting organizations are advising people not to wait before completing and returning their ballots.
“They should fill out their absentee ballot and mail or hand deliver it as quickly as possible,” said Jennifer Rubin, president of the League of Women Voters of North Carolina.
Postal Changes Blamed for Ballot Rejections
Election officials in several states have raised separate concerns about how the Postal Service processes and postmarks election mail.
Postmarks increasingly may be applied at distant processing facilities instead of local post offices. That can result in a ballot receiving a later postmark than the date it was handed to a postal worker or placed in the mail.
Many states allow ballots arriving after Election Day to be counted if they were postmarked by the voting deadline. A delayed postmark can therefore disqualify an otherwise timely ballot.
Nearly 150,000 mail ballots were rejected during California’s June primary, primarily because they were postmarked too late.
In Wisconsin, officials contacted the Postal Service after hundreds of ballots arrived beyond the deadline during elections in April. Some of the state’s approximately 1,850 municipal clerks have responded by sending ballots earlier than usual.
Washington state, where voting is conducted almost entirely by mail, reported that ballot rejections caused by late postmarks during its August primary were 32% higher than in the primary two years earlier.
“Why are we disenfranchising Americans when we’ve had one of the best systems in the United States?” Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell asked while promoting the state report.
Postal Service Addresses Postmark Concerns
The Postal Service says it has not formally changed its postmarking practices.
It has acknowledged, however, that “adjustments to our transportation operations” can mean a postmark date does not match the day mail was collected by a carrier or dropped off at a post office.
Voters who want to ensure that an envelope receives a timely date can request a manual postmark at a local post office, the agency said.
More States Prepare to Send Ballots
Other states will begin distributing mail ballots throughout September. Alabama is scheduled to start on Sept. 9, and all states must send ballots to military and overseas voters by the middle of the month.
David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Researchsaid the deadline for safely imposing major nationwide election changes has passed.
“That’s true even if they were good changes, which the mail EO definitely is not,” Becker said. “The first ballots being mailed only confirms this fact.”
The organization has submitted legal arguments supporting states that are challenging the proposed postal requirements.
Don Millis, a Republican who chairs the Wisconsin Elections Commission, said local officials’ decision to distribute ballots earlier reflected legitimate concern about what could happen if the Supreme Court allows Trump’s order to take effect.
“There’s a fundamental concern this thing is not going to work,” he said.
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