The Trump administration proposed that states send lists of voters to the postal service and that each postal ballot have a unique barcode stamped on the envelope.

Posted by Americast, Sep 16, 2026Checked Oct 30, 2026

Polygraph verdictTrue

Sources: 5 support2 context
Said: 1 time·
Confidence: 90%

AmericastSep 16, 2026

As of 2026-09-16, multiple sources confirm the Trump administration's March executive order and the USPS proposed rule (published June 2, 2026) required states to supply voter lists to USPS and required unique barcodes on ballot envelopes, with USPS delivering only to listed voters.

This claim is about the present, so it is judged as of the day it was checked.

What was said

… Yeah, we're less than eight weeks out now, I think. And what we wanted to do, if I understood it correctly, was have all the individual states who actually run their own elections, it's not a federal effort. They were to send lists of voters to the postal service, and unless somebody was on that list, they wouldn't receive a postal ballot, and each postal ballot had to have a unique barcode stamped on the envelope. And the argument was there just wasn't time to organize all of this before the elections, not least because the web portal where the states were supposed to upload their voters' names wasn't even working. …

Americast · Sep 16, 2026· from the transcriptPost →

What we found

Supports. Reuters reports Trump's March executive order required states to supply USPS with lists of mail ballot recipients and to place unique barcodes on all outbound and return ballot envelopes, with USPS delivering only to voters on approved lists.[1]

Supports. The White House fact sheet on the March executive order directs the Postmaster General to initiate rulemaking requiring mail ballots to carry unique Intelligent Mail barcodes.[3]

Supports. USA Today reports USPS proposed a rule mandating states supply voter identities and corresponding barcodes, with a 30-day comment period, published June 2.[6]

Supports. Senators' press releases describe the USPS proposed rule of June 2, 2026 and the centralized absentee voter database with individualized barcodes.[4][5]

Context. The Supreme Court rejected the administration's attempt on September 14, 2026, keeping the injunction in place; this later development does not alter whether the proposal existed on 2026-09-16.[2][7]