Most people have no idea what President Trump’s new election-mail Executive Order USPS rule actually does.
1. Plain English: it creates a chain-of-custody system for mail ballot envelopes in federal elections.
2. Not the vote, the envelope.
3. Under the proposed USPS rule, states using mail-in or absentee ballots for federal elections would have to use standardized ballot envelopes:
-Official Election Mail logo
-Automation-compatible design
-Unique Intelligent Mail barcode
-USPS review of envelope/barcode placement
4. That means the ballot envelope becomes trackable.
5. States or election mailers would also submit key data through a USPS portal:
-Voter name
-Voter address
-Outbound envelope barcode
-Return envelope barcode
-Originating election office state
6. So officials can know: this ballot envelope was sent out, and this return envelope came back.
7. USPS would review outbound ballot mail before accepting it.
-Is it in the right envelope?
-Does it have the proper barcode?
-Is it going to someone enrolled on that state’s mail-
ballot participation list?
8. If not, the mailing goes back to the election mailer to fix.
9. The broader Executive Order also directs DHS + SSA to help create State Citizenship Lists using federal citizenship, naturalization, SSA, SAVE, and related data.
10. Those lists go to state election officials before federal elections.
11. Important: states still run voter registration. The federal list does not register anyone by itself.
12. Bottom line: this is not “tracking your vote.”
13. It tracks the envelope, creates a sent-vs-returned audit trail, helps flag discrepancies, preserves ballot-envelope records, and leaves states responsible for their voter rolls.
14. Chain of custody is not suppression. It is basic election accountability.
15. I used “proposed rule” because USPS has not finalized the rule yet.
16. The proposal says it applies to general, special, and runoff federal elections, not primaries or UOCAVA military/overseas ballots, and it requires unique barcodes on outbound and return envelopes.
17. The rule would require voter name/address plus outbound and return envelope barcode data through a USPS portal, with updates allowed until the last day ballots may be mailed under state law.
18. It also says USPS does not alter voter eligibility or manage state voter rolls.
19. The EO separately directs DHS/SSA to create State Citizenship Lists and directs DOJ enforcement and five-year preservation of participation records, excluding cast ballots.
20. There is one more thing it does, all I'll say is, watch out ballot mills. 😎
~ Peter Bernegger
