What is the fight over the Postal Service mail-in ballot rule about?

The dispute is about what a ballot’s postmark proves. The U.S. Postal Service generally applies postmarks when mail is processed, not necessarily when someone hands it to a postal worker or drops it in a mailbox. A ballot mailed close to a deadline could therefore receive a postmark dated later than the day it was sent.

That matters in states that accept ballots arriving after Election Day if they were postmarked by Election Day. Election officials and voting-rights advocates worry that a processing delay could make a timely ballot look late. The Postal Service’s position is that postmarks reflect mail processing and are not a guaranteed receipt stamp; voters who need a particular date may request a manual postmark at a post office.

The argument is partly practical and partly legal: should USPS do more to document when election mail is handed over, or should states set deadlines that don’t depend on a postmark? There is no single nationwide ballot-receipt rule, so the effect depends on each state’s law. Voters should check their local instructions and, when mailing near a deadline, consider asking a postal clerk to hand-cancel the envelope or use an in-person ballot drop-off option.