Fact Check: Did USPS propose ending mail ballot delivery for states without voter lists?
WASHINGTON, DC: A claim circulating online alleged that the US Postal Service (USPS) proposed ending mail ballot deliveries for states that do not provide voter information to the federal government.
The claim has fueled debate over election rules and the role of federal agencies in voting. Let's fact-check the claim.
Claim: US Postal Service planned to stop delivering mail ballots to states without voter lists
Recently, social media users circulated a claim that the US Postal Service under President Donald Trump planned to stop delivering mail ballots to states that refused to provide voter lists to the federal government.
A July 18 Facebook post claimed, “The Postmaster General has announced that the USPS will not deliver mail-in ballots for the 2026 midterm elections to states that refuse to comply with President Trump's election integrity executive order.”
The post further stated, “States that do not provide voter rolls or cooperate with federal efforts to verify citizenship and eligibility will not receive USPS services for mailing ballots.”
The post concluded, “This is a major step to enforce clean voter rolls and ensure only eligible American citizens can vote.”
The claim later spread across multiple platforms, including posts on Reddit, Facebook, and X, fueling discussions about election security and federal oversight of voting procedures.
Fact Check: The claim is true
The claim is true. The US Postal Service (USPS) proposed a rule change that would require states to provide the federal government with lists of mail-in and absentee voters in exchange for USPS delivering mail ballots to voters in those states.
The proposed rule was based on a March 31, 2026, executive order, but included some differences, resulting in confusion about the policy details.
However, the rule has not been finalized, and both the executive order and the proposed rule have faced multiple legal challenges.
As of July, 2026, a judge had blocked the implementation of the order and proposed rule in about two dozen states that challenged the policy. Legal challenges over whether the proposal can move forward in other states remained unresolved.
In July, some Facebook posts claimed that a federal judge had ruled that “ALL 50 states MUST send in their voter rolls to confirm citizenship.” However, that claim did not accurately describe the legal situation at the time.
While an appeals court allowed USPS to continue working toward finalizing and implementing the proposal during the ongoing litigation, the posts failed to mention that a court had blocked the policy in 24 states.
They also did not account for another lawsuit in which a judge was considering whether to halt implementation of the proposal while the case continued.
