On December 24, the United States Postal Service (USPS) published a rule change (608.11) that allows the service to postmark mail on a later day than when the organization took possession of it, or the day in which it is mailed.
This directly impacts mail-in ballots, as their validity is often determined by its postmark date. Voter registration forms and absentee ballot applications may also be impacted.
The change has caused chaos and confusion. In September, the Montgomery County Board of Elections in Maryland issued a letter to the USPS, expressing concern over “serious issues relative to the requirements to accept or reject mail-in ballots we receive through the USPS.”
Trump, who himself has voted via mail, has railed against mail-in voting, falsely claiming that it is correlated with voter fraud. Furthermore, this is not the first time in which the USPS, under Trump’s direction, undermined election security.
