A coalition of 25 states filed a lawsuit challenging a new U.S. Postal Service rule that grants USPS authority to regulate mail voting in federal elections, Nevada Attorney General Aaron D. Ford announced.
The states argue the USPS rule will prevent them from administering their mail voting programs and risk disenfranchising millions of eligible voters.
The USPS rule, announced August 21, requires states to register all voters eligible to vote by mail with the postal service and design mail ballot envelopes to meet new USPS standards. USPS will not deliver ballots to voters absent from USPS-generated state lists or in envelopes that do not comply with the new design requirements.
The states argue the rule inflicts significant harm by forcing them to redesign ballot envelopes, secure USPS approval, and develop new systems to transmit voter lists to USPS—all within weeks ahead of the 2026 general election. In Nevada, 700,222 voters, representing 34.3% of active registered voters, cast mail ballots in the 2024 general election.
The lawsuit challenges the rule as unconstitutional, citing states' constitutional authority to administer elections, and argues it violates federal statutes governing USPS, the Privacy Act, and federal voting rights law. The coalition asks the court to strike down the rule and issue a temporary restraining order preventing it from taking effect during litigation.
The coalition includes attorneys general from California, Massachusetts, Washington, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania's governor.