Attorney General Tong Sues United States Postal Service Over Unlawful Attempt to Interfere with States' Vote-By-Mail Procedures

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08/26/2026

Attorney General Tong Sues United States Postal Service Over Unlawful Attempt to Interfere with States' Vote-By-Mail Procedures

Lawsuit Seeks to Block Unconstitutional USPS Rule that Directs States to Overhaul Vote-by-Mail Procedures on an Impossible Timeline and Risks Disenfranchising Eligible Voters

(Hartford, CT) - Attorney General William Tong today joined a coalition of 25 states in filing a lawsuit against the United States Postal Service (USPS) challenging its new rule that purports to grant USPS the authority to regulate mail voting in elections.

Tens of millions of voters across the country rely on mail-in ballots, and the coalition argues USPS's rule will prevent states from effectively administering their mail voting programs, putting voters at risk of being disenfranchised.

"Once again, Donald Trump is breaking the law to try to micromanage who gets to vote, and how we cast our ballots. This time, he's ordering the United States Postal Service to do his dirty work. We sued to block the initial executive order, and now we're suing again to block USPS from carrying out this illegal directive. The Constitution plainly forbids the President from commandeering elections to manipulate and micromanage how we vote, and we are aggressively pursuing our litigation on multiple fronts to protect our democracy," said Attorney General Tong.

On March 31, President Trump issued an Executive Order attempting to establish a national list of eligible voters and directing the U.S. Postal Service to transmit mail ballots only to voters on the list. On August 21, USPS announced a new rule implementing the President's demands that require states to register every voter who is eligible to vote by mail with USPS and tasking USPS with compiling the registered voters into state-specific lists. The rule also establishes new design requirements for the mail-in ballot envelopes created by states, which states are required to meet and get approved by USPS. Under the rule, USPS will not deliver ballots to voters who do not appear on the USPS-generated lists and will not deliver ballots in envelopes that fail to comply with the rule's new standards.

Attorney General Tong and the coalition argue the rule inflicts significant, irreparable harm on states by imposing burdensome mail voting requirements that risk disenfranchising eligible voters. With the start of the general election season mere weeks away, states must bear the cost of redesigning their mail ballot envelopes and securing USPS review and approval before they can even register mail voters with USPS. Within a matter of weeks and without any additional resources, state election officials must also develop new systems to communicate mail voter lists to USPS to ensure that every eligible voter who is entitled to a mail ballot receives one. States must also create new guidance for election officials, train them on the new procedures, and educate the public about the changes prior to the upcoming election.

Even if states were to meet these enormous administrative and financial burdens, the rule could still result in eligible voters not receiving their ballots due to, for instance, administrative errors or flaws in the rushed and untested new procedures.

Over the past several decades, voting by mail has become more popular across the country. Since the inception of vote-by-mail, Congress has never exercised its authority to limit it, and in fact, has only taken action to expand and protect mail voting for military and overseas voters. Congress has also never authorized USPS to monitor or control the transmission of mail ballots.

The coalition argues that USPS's rule violates the Constitution, which makes clear that states have the primary authority to administer elections, and upends successful, longstanding vote-by-mail procedures. The lawsuit argues the rule is inconsistent with USPS's governing statutes, ignores USPS's procedural requirements, violates the Privacy Act, and is inconsistent with federal voting rights law. The coalition asks the court to strike down the unlawful rule and issue a temporary restraining order preventing the rule from taking effect while the litigation proceeds.

This USPS rule is the latest attempt by President Trump to exert federal control over elections and seize states' constitutional authority to administer elections. In April, Attorney General Tong joined a coalition of 24 states in suing the Trump Administration to block its unlawful Executive Order that prompted the creation of USPS's rule. The U.S. Supreme Court recently granted the Trump Administration's emergency request to stay an injunction that had blocked key provisions of that order for midterm elections this year. The U.S. Supreme Court did not rule on whether the Executive Order or USPS rule is lawful. Instead, it found that the coalition's challenge was premature because, when the lawsuit was filed, the Administration had not taken the actions needed to implement it. The coalition will now challenge those actions as they occur and as necessary to protect states' administration of elections.

Joining Attorney General Tong in filing this lawsuit, which was co-led by the attorneys general of California, Massachusetts, Nevada, and Washington, are the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaiʻi, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin, and the Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Twitter: @AGWilliamTong Facebook: CT Attorney General

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