US Postal Service proposes big changes for mail-in voting, including list of eligible users

[RandySF]

The U.S. Postal Service is proposing major changes to absentee voting by mail, including creating new lists of which voters are eligible to do so.

Wisconsin elections officials say they’re not in a hurry to respond to the proposal because it may not survive legal challenges.
The U.S. Postal Service introduced a proposed rule Tuesday that would “apply uniform standards for the mailing of absentee ballots to and from voters.” Those include new requirements for the envelopes state and local election officials use to mail ballots and a “Mail-In and Absentee Participation List” that’s never been used before.

Under the proposal, each state’s top election official would add the names of voters eligible to vote by mail, “along with the barcodes associated with such individuals’ mail-in or absentee ballots.” The goal, under the proposal, is to “allow law enforcement officials to compare the total number of mailed ballots to the total number of received ballots to detect potential issues meriting further investigation.”

“Under this proposal, states would retain full control over who would (or would not) be able to vote by mail-in federal elections within each state, as states would control enrollment with the Postal Service for inclusion on the state’s Mail-In and Absentee Participation List,” the rule states.



https://www.wpr.org/news/us-postal-service-mail-in-voting-list-eligible-users