Wisconsin Elections Commission Advises Clerks They Are Not Affected by New USPS Rule on Absentee Ballots

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2026 -- 11:00 AM

(WPR Staff, Wisconsin Public Radio) The Wisconsin Elections Commission is advising clerks they are not, for now, affected by a new United States Postal Service rule on absentee ballots created after the President issued an executive order on voting by mail, according to Wisconsin Public Radio Staff.

According to guidance laid out in a “frequently asked questions” document for Wisconsin elections clerks with updates approved unanimously at a special meeting Monday, the post office rule is unlikely to change anything before the November election.

The rule pursued by the current administration would place limits on voting by mail by requiring states to provide individual voter data to the postal service, which would then only mail ballots to people on approved lists. The rule is being contested in federal court and is currently blocked by an injunction.

“The rule has been blocked while litigation continues, and the judge that blocked the rule reasoned that the states challenging will likely be successful in arguing that the rule violates the law,” the WEC document states. “While it’s possible that an appeals court could disagree with the federal judge who blocked the rule, the likelihood that any court will allow the rule to go back into effect lessens as we get closer to Election Day.”

According to WEC, the first batches of absentee ballots for the November election will begin going out this week in many states, including Wisconsin. Under the post office rule, absentee ballots would only be mailed if states provided individual voter information through a federal portal.

The President’s order called on states to develop lists of eligible voters who are U.S. citizens and provide that information to federal authorities. The blocked post office rule requires election officials to have specific barcodes on the ballots they mail, and the postal service would scan those barcodes to determine whether or not a ballot could be delivered.

The commission voted unanimously Monday to direct staff not to take any action to comply with the post office rule without specific direction from the commission. And the commissioners voted to update the “frequently asked questions” document for clerks to make clear that the post office rule is not currently in force.

Even without that court order, the FAQ update says, Wisconsin could not now comply with the rule. “First, the USPS portal does not exist. USPS has given no indication of when or whether it will exist, and USPS has provided no training on how the portal will be used,” the FAQ document states.

It also states that that post office rule “is not a simple administrative change” but a “highly complex, untested system” that no commission or clerk has been trained to develop or use. The commission’s guidance says the next hearing on the federal case is Sept. 3 and the commission “will provide further information as the case develops.”

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