Vote-by-Mail Rules Blocked for 2026

Postal workers can continue handling Election Mail under the procedures already in place for the 2026 midterm elections after the U.S. Supreme Court denied the government’s request to put new Postal Service ballot-mail rules into effect. In a 7-2 decision issued September 14, the Court left a lower-court injunction in place, finding that the government was unlikely to succeed on its challenge to that injunction and that the factors required for emergency relief did not support putting the rule into effect now. Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented.

For postal workers, the immediate result is straightforward. We continue doing what we have always done: process, transport, and deliver Election Mail according to established procedures. The Postal Service itself reported that it handled at least 99.22 million ballots during the 2024 general election period, with 99.88 percent of ballots from voters delivered to election officials within seven days. USPS also reported delivering 54.4 million ballots during the 2022 midterm election period, with 98.96 percent reaching election officials within three days.

National APWU has opposed the new ballot-mail requirements from the beginning. The union argued that the executive order and the Postal Service rule that followed were unprincipled, unlawful, and unworkable. APWU’s position has been that postal workers should move Election Mail, not be placed in the position of determining voter eligibility or deciding whether individual ballots can enter the mailstream. The union also filed an amicus brief challenging the legal basis for the changes and arguing that the new system interfered with state authority over elections. APWU publicly welcomed the Supreme Court’s September 14 action and emphasized that postal workers can continue using procedures that have already been tested in prior elections.

The rule that was blocked would have required federal ballot mail to use special envelope features, including an Election Mail logo, machine-readable characteristics, and a voter-specific barcode. States also would have been required to submit voter information through a Postal Service portal. Mail that failed to satisfy the requirements could have been returned rather than accepted.

There is an important distinction members should understand. The Supreme Court’s September 14 action came through an emergency application for a stay. It keeps the rule from taking effect for the 2026 elections, but it does not necessarily settle every underlying legal question permanently. Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote separately that the Postal Service may ultimately have statutory authority to issue such a rule, but concluded that implementing it this close to the 2026 elections would be improper because state and local election officials did not have enough time to comply.

That is why National APWU is saying the issue is not finished. APWU President Jonathan Smith has called on the Postal Service Board of Governors to act so the disputed rule does not return in another election cycle. National is asking members and the public to contact the Board of Governors and urge it to permanently end the measure.

As postal workers, our responsibility remains clear. Our job is to move the mail entrusted to us safely, securely, and on time. Election Mail is no different. Whatever political disagreements surround Vote-by-Mail, postal workers should not be pulled into determining who is eligible to vote. Our responsibility is the mail.

The Supreme Court’s action keeps the existing process in place for 2026. What happens beyond this election will depend on how the remaining legal and Postal Service issues are resolved. Members should stay informed, follow National APWU updates, and understand that changes involving Election Mail can directly affect our work, our responsibilities, and the public trust placed in the Postal Service.

USPS Finances: Protect Your Retirement

READ THIS: https://www.kiplinger.com/retirement/retirement-planning/usps-postal-workers-retirement-options

Postal workers have every reason to pay attention to the Postal Service’s growing financial problems, especially when those problems begin touching retirement funding and long-term financial security. A recent Kiplinger article examines USPS cash-flow pressures, deferred employer retirement obligations, ongoing restructuring under Delivering for America, and what those developments could mean for employees planning for retirement. The article makes clear that individual TSP accounts are not being raided and earned pensions have not disappeared, but it also raises important questions about how USPS will address missed retirement contributions, future obligations, staffing changes, and the financial stability of the Postal Service. For employees, this is more than another financial headline. It is a reminder to understand your FERS pension, TSP, Social Security, health coverage, and retirement options before future changes force decisions under pressure.

The USPS Fight Must Reach Our Communities

For years, postal workers have fought our battles on the workroom floor, across grievance tables, at the bargaining table, and inside our Union halls. Those fights are still necessary, but the challenges facing the United States Postal Service now require us to go further. The fight to protect the public Postal Service must move beyond our membership and into the communities we serve. The public needs to understand that USPS financial problems, service reductions, post office closures, Vote-by-Mail attacks, and privatization concerns are not simply union issues. They are community issues.

APWU is already moving in that direction. The Protect Our Public Post Office campaign, including the July 28 nationwide Day of Action, brought together postal workers, retirees, labor allies, families, and community supporters to call on Congress to strengthen USPS rather than allow financial problems to result in service cuts or post office closures. That message matters because USPS is facing serious financial pressure. Postmaster General David Steiner warned that without congressional action to increase borrowing authority, USPS could face a cash crisis affecting its ability to pay employees and vendors. But financial problems cannot be allowed to become the excuse for shrinking the public-service mission, reducing access, or pushing USPS toward a private-sector model centered primarily on profitability.

That is why our communities need to be involved. USPS has a universal service obligation that private delivery companies do not. Postal workers serve every ZIP Code, including communities and routes that may never be profitable in a private business model. When a neighborhood post office closes, when service standards change, or when access is reduced, the effect reaches far beyond postal employees. Small businesses, seniors, veterans, rural residents, and families all depend on reliable postal service. These issues become real when residents begin asking what restructuring means for their post office, their mail, and their community.

Vote-by-Mail is another example of why this fight reaches beyond our membership. APWU has been working to defend and expand voting by mail while emphasizing that postal workers are responsible for securely moving the mail entrusted to us. That directly affects voters and the public. The same is true with post office closures and privatization concerns. These are not abstract policy debates when a local community loses convenient postal access or sees services reduced.

National APWU can organize campaigns, lobby Congress, launch advertising efforts, hold livestreams, and provide locals with resources, but National cannot reach every neighborhood by itself. That responsibility eventually reaches us. Our members live in these communities. We have family, friends, neighbors, civic groups, veterans organizations, churches, and local organizations around us. Those connections give us the opportunity to explain why a strong public Postal Service matters.

But none of this works without participation from our own members. We cannot expect the public to stand with us if we are unwilling to stand with one another. Members need to attend General Membership Meetings, participate in rallies and Days of Action, share accurate information, contact elected officials, and talk with neighbors and community organizations about what is happening to USPS. Participation cannot begin only when your own job is affected. By then, decisions may already be made.

The future of USPS will not be decided only inside postal headquarters or Union halls. Congress, postal leadership, regulators, and the American public will all have a role. Our responsibility is to make sure the public understands what is at stake. We must take the facts beyond the workroom floor and into our communities.

The Postal Service belongs to the people. If we want the people standing with us to protect it, then we have to get out into our communities and give them a reason to stand with us.