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U.S. Postal Service requires names, addresses and barcodes on mail-in ballots
The U.S. Postal Service has implemented a new verification rule for mail-in ballots ahead of the November 3, 2026 general election. The system requires voters’ names and home addresses to be recorded and a unique barcode to be added to each ballot, but it does not ban voting by mail.
As the November 3, 2026 general election approaches, the U.S. Postal Service has put new rules into effect for verifying ballots cast by mail.
The system requires voters’ basic information to be recorded and a unique barcode to be added to every mail-in ballot distributed to U.S. citizens. The requirements for ballots will apply regardless of the state in which the voter lives.
States will enter information into a federal portal
Under the new rule, states will be required to collect and submit voters’ names and home addresses in particular. State election officials will transfer this information to the federal ballot-mail portal before the ballots are accepted into the postal system.
Until now, states had no common method for tracking this information through their mail-in voting systems. The U.S. Postal Service said it would not deliver ballots from states that fail to comply with the new regulation. The publication of the registration system that will collect voter information also began when the rule took effect.
Citizenship information will not be included in the portal
Regardless of the terminology used in state laws, the regulation treats all ballots sent through the U.S. mail as synonymous under the terms “ballot cast by mail” and “absentee ballot.”
Stricter verification standards linked to President Donald Trump’s demands fall outside the scope of the new regulation. Trump’s executive order pending before the U.S. Supreme Court calls for the creation of statewide voter citizenship lists from Social Security or immigration databases and the use of standardized ballots. The order also calls for coordination between the Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General and the Justice Department to investigate suspected unlawful use of federal election materials by mail.
Regulations linked to Trump’s demands are before the courts in numerous lawsuits and injunction proceedings. The new rule introduces a system that tracks voters through their names and addresses while largely excluding citizenship information. Dates of birth, Social Security numbers and other voter registration information will not be uploaded to the portal.
The U.S. Postal Service emphasized that it will not determine voter eligibility, maintain voter lists or count ballots. The agency said the regulation does not ban voting by mail and does not affect exceptions granted for military service, disability, illness or travel.
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