By THE ALASKA STORY
Aug. 24, 2026 – The US Postal Service has finalized regulations requiring states to identify absentee voters and place unique tracking barcodes on ballot envelopes before using the mail to distribute ballots in federal elections.
The 95-page rule, released for public inspection Friday and scheduled for formal publication Wednesday, carries out an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in April. The order calls for greater federal oversight of ballots traveling through the mail and for state-by-state lists of voters receiving absentee ballots.
Under the regulations, state election officials would submit each absentee voter’s name and address to a new Postal Service Federal Ballot Mail Portal, along with unique Intelligent Mail barcodes assigned to both the outgoing and return envelopes.
States would remain responsible for deciding who is eligible to vote and who may receive an absentee ballot. The Postal Service would not determine voter eligibility, but it would verify that ballot mailings comply with its envelope, barcode and data-submission requirements.
Outgoing ballot mailings that do not comply could be rejected and returned to election officials for correction, according to the final Postal Service rule.
The Postal Service said the system would provide better tracking of ballot mail and create records that could be used by election officials and law enforcement. Supporters say the additional accountability is justified because ballots are unlike ordinary mail and should be traceable from the election office to the voter and back again.
Critics argue that data errors or missed administrative deadlines could prevent eligible voters from receiving ballots. They also contend the president and Postal Service are intruding into election administration traditionally handled by the states.
The new system would apply to general, special and runoff elections for federal offices, but not primary elections.
For Alaska, mail voting represents a significant part of the election system, particularly for residents away from their home communities, military members and voters in places where travel to a polling location can be difficult.
For the Aug. 18 Alaska primary, the Division of Elections issued 18,082 absentee ballots by mail. As of an Aug. 20 report, 9,216 had been returned, with additional properly postmarked ballots still eligible to arrive through Aug. 28. Those numbers do not include 27,621 early votes, 2,077 absentee in-person ballots or ballots delivered electronically.
The comparison with Alaska’s last general election is even more significant. In 2024, the state issued 59,158 absentee ballots by mail and received 51,212 of them. In the 2022 general election, 49,002 were issued and 41,348 returned, according to the Alaska Division of Elections’ absentee statistics.
Alaska is a no-excuse absentee state, meaning any qualified voter may request a ballot by mail without providing a reason. Unlike states that automatically mail ballots to all registered voters, Alaska generally requires voters to apply for an absentee ballot.
The immediate effect of the federal rule remains uncertain because courts have blocked enforcement of the president’s order.
A federal judge in Massachusetts issued an injunction in June, finding that the administration had not shown the president possessed the authority to direct the proposed changes. The Trump administration has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to lift that injunction while litigation continues.
Although the Postal Service gave the rule an immediate effective date, it said it will not implement the regulations for the Nov. 3, 2026, election unless the Supreme Court first grants the administration relief from the injunction.
The case is pending on the Supreme Court’s emergency docket, and the justices could rule at any time.
Unless the injunction is lifted, Alaska’s absentee ballots for the November election will continue moving through the mail under the existing procedures. If the administration prevails, the state could be required to load absentee-voter information into the federal portal, assign unique barcodes to ballot envelopes and meet the new Postal Service standards before outgoing ballot mailings are accepted.
