Mail Voting Alert: Understand and Get Ready for the Changed USPS Postmark Rule

U.S. Postal Service’s new rule on postmarks could affect mail voters

The United States Postal Service (USPS) has enacted a new final rule, effective December 24, 2025, which clarifies that a postmark date reflects when mail is processed at a USPS facility, not necessarily when it is dropped off. This change has significant implications for election policies in states that rely on postmarks to determine if a mail-in ballot was submitted on time.

Key Policy Change Details

• Old definition (general expectation): The postmark typically indicated the date and location where the USPS first accepted possession of the mail item, such as at a local post office or collection box.

• New definition (clarification): The official postmark date now explicitly means the date the item is first processed by an automated sorting machine, usually at a large, regional processing hub.

• The gap: Due to recent USPS operational overhauls and transportation changes, there can be a delay of one or more days between dropping off mail and its arrival at a processing facility to receive a postmark.

• Impact on elections: For the 14 states and Washington D.C. that have election laws allowing mail-in ballots to be counted if they are postmarked on or before Election Day, ballots dropped in a mailbox on Election Day might not be postmarked until the next day or later, potentially leading to their rejection. 

Recommendations for Voters
To ensure a time-sensitive document, such as a mail-in ballot or tax return, is considered on time: 

• Request a manual postmark: Take the mail item to a retail counter at a post office and explicitly request a manual, hand-stamped postmark with the current date. This service is provided free of charge.

• Use official drop boxes: If available in your area, use an official election drop box managed by local election officials to ensure your ballot is received by the deadline.

• Plan ahead: Mail time-sensitive documents several days before the deadline to accommodate potential processing delays.

• Track your ballot: Use state-specific services, like Track my Ballot (votetexas.gov) or contact your local election office, to confirm when your ballot was received and counted. 

This change has led to concerns about potential voter disenfranchisement and has prompted election officials to encourage voters to use drop boxes or mail their ballots earlier.

(by Anna Xiong, Kelley Center for Government Information and Civic Engagement and Veronica Reyna, Center for Civic Leadership)

The Best of Both Worlds or Between a Rock and a Hard Place

The United States Postal Service is a strange hybrid. 

It was established by the First Continental Congress in 1775.  The new federal government established in 1789 established the postal service permanently as a government agency in 1792.

Therefore:

The USPS is a government agency within the Executive Branch. 

Its service standards are set in the Code of Federal Regulations, and the Postal Regulatory Commission has oversight of it.

It has a public mission, and the price of minimal service must remain affordable.

It maintains a monopoly of mailboxes and letter delivery to be able to provide service to communities that would not be financially viable for a private company.  Only the USPS can deposit items into mailboxes. 

As a government agency, the USPS is exempt from tolls, vehicle registration fees, state/local taxes, property/real estate taxes, and parking tickets for delivery vehicles.

To fund growth and improvements, the USPS is granted very low interest loans.

Postal workers are federal employees.  The USPS assumes all financial risks for workers’ compensation from its revenue.  It cannot use a private insurer.

Postal workers cannot strike.

 

However:

Since the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970, the USPS does not receive appropriations from Congress provided by tax revenues. Unlike most government agencies, it is almost completely financially independent. 

It is required to act like a private business and must compete for customers.

The rise in costs of providing services, especially employee retirement benefits, competition from other delivery companies, and a reduction in need for the postal service because of technological innovations for delivery of communication (email, etc.) has led to a loss of revenue for the USPS. 

Currently the cost of universal mail service is higher than the monetary value of having a monopoly.

Other handicaps:

USPS has more flexibility in purchasing than other government agencies, but purchasing is regulated by government oversight and is not as flexible as a private company would have. 

The USPS is forbidden by law from putting retirement program monies into any but the most secure investments.  Therefore, the cost of retirement benefits for postal employees is higher than the money the investments make. 

The amount the USPS can borrow for growth and improvements is capped by law, and the cap has not changed in 30 years.

Because of its hybrid nature, the USPS has some control over it’s operations and low to no control over others.  For example, USPS has no control over providing 6-day service.  It also has no control over its ability to diversify products and services.  It has high control over the prices it charges for services it competes with other companies to provide such as package delivery.

The US Postal Service component of the Office of Inspector General has studied the tension between the competing natures of the Postal Service as a privately funded entity and a government agency and in a white paper released August 2, 2024 has determined that its current structure is not sustainable and needs reform.