Statement from National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association President Don Maston on Executive Order Targeting Vote by Mail

April 1, 2026
For Immediate Release

The National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association is deeply concerned by the Administration’s executive order seeking to impose new federal restrictions on vote by mail and to involve the United States Postal Service (USPS) in functions that properly belong to the states.

For generations, vote by mail has been administered by state election officials under state law, with the Postal Service serving in its proper role as a trusted, neutral carrier of the nation’s mail. That role must not be distorted. USPS should never be weaponized to undermine longstanding vote-by-mail practices, nor should it be placed in the unacceptable position of determining voter eligibility.

The Postal Service is not an election enforcement agency. It is not a substitute for state election administrators, and it is not equipped or authorized to decide who is or is not entitled to vote. Any effort to push USPS into that role risks politicizing one of the nation’s most trusted public institutions and threatening public confidence in both the mail and the electoral process.

Rural Americans in particular depend on vote by mail and absentee voting. In many parts of the country, especially rural and remote communities, the Postal Service is the essential link between voters and the ballot box. Any policy that creates confusion, delays, or places barriers in the handling of election mail will fall hardest on those voters who already face the greatest obstacles to accessing in-person voting.

In addition, this order would also impose new administrative burdens on an agency that is already under significant financial strain. Forcing the Postal Service to take on new compliance, data-matching, tracking, and enforcement-related responsibilities would add cost and complexity far beyond its core mission of moving the mail.

The NRLCA strongly opposes this broad reaching and very likely illegal Executive Order. The Postal Service must remain focused on its core mission: providing prompt, reliable, and universal service to every American address, including the secure and timely delivery of election mail.

We urge policymakers to protect the independence and neutrality of the Postal Service, respect the constitutional role of the states in administering elections, and ensure that no postal employee is put in the position of adjudicating voter status or eligibility.

The Postal Service binds the nation together because the public trusts it to serve every community fairly, impartially, and without political interference. That trust must not be compromised.