Michigan Sues United States Postal Service Over Unlawful Vote-by-Mail Procedures

LANSING – The State of Michigan today joined a coalition of 25 states in filing a lawsuit (PDF) against the United States Postal Service (USPS) challenging its new rule that purports to grant USPS the authority to regulate mail voting in federal elections. Tens of millions of voters across the country rely on mail ballots, and the coalition argues that USPS’s rule will prevent states—who are granted primary authority over elections under the U.S. Constitution—from effectively administering their mail voting programs, putting voters at risk of being disenfranchised.

"The President is scrambling to usurp the electoral process because he is afraid of the outcome this November, but the Constitution is clear: States run elections,” said Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. “This USPS rule is another outrageous attempt to sow chaos, suppress turnout just weeks before the election, and disenfranchise many Michiganders who vote by mail. I have fought back against this administration's desperate tactics to hold onto power before and will not hesitate to do it again to protect the fundamental right of Michigan voters."

“Recent federal attacks on vote-by-mail are a direct assault on Michiganders’ freedom to make their voices heard,” said Governor Gretchen Whitmer. “I’m proud to join Attorney General Nessel to ensure every citizen’s ballot is cast and counted. We’ve worked hard to protect vote by mail for service members and their families and make historic investments to keep our elections safe and secure, as they’ve always been. Let’s keep working together to defend voting rights in Michigan.”

“Voting rights are the bedrock of our democracy,” said Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist II. “The purpose of the federal attack on vote-by-mail is clear: interfere with and intimidate Michiganders who participate in our independent, democratic process. Together, we must fight back and ensure that every Michigander can make their voice heard. We all have a role to play in protecting voting rights and defending the hard-fought freedoms we hold dear.”

“The Constitution gives states the power to run elections – not the federal government, the president, or the postal service,” said Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson. “None of the president’s efforts to sow chaos and confusion about this process changes that fact. Michigan citizens have the constitutional right to vote by mail and track their ballot without federal interference - we’re fighting to keep it that way.”

On March 31, President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order attempting to establish a national list of eligible voters and directing the U.S. Postal Service to transmit mail ballots only to voters on the list. On August 21, USPS announced a new rule implementing the President’s demands, which requires states to enroll every voter who is eligible to vote by mail with USPS and tasks USPS with compiling the registered voters into state-specific lists. The rule also establishes new design requirements for state mail-in ballot envelopes, which USPS must approve. Under the rule, USPS will not deliver ballots to voters who do not appear on the USPS-generated lists and will not deliver ballots in envelopes that fail to comply with the rule’s new envelope design standards.

The coalition argues the rule inflicts significant, irreparable harm on states by usurping the states’ role in administering elections and imposing burdensome mail voting requirements that risk disenfranchising eligible voters. With the start of the general election season mere weeks away, if the rule remains in effect, states must bear the cost of redesigning their mail ballot envelopes and securing USPS review and approval before they can begin to mail out absentee ballots. Within a matter of weeks and without any additional resources, state election officials must also develop new systems to communicate mail voter lists to USPS to ensure that every eligible voter who is entitled to a mail ballot receives one. States must also create new guidance for election officials, train them on the new procedures, and educate the public about the changes prior to the upcoming election. Absentee ballots are mailed to Michigan voters beginning on September 19, which gives Michigan clerks less than a month to redesign their entire mail-voting program to meet these abstract rules.

Even if states were to meet these enormous administrative and financial burdens, the rule could still result in eligible voters not receiving their ballots due to, for instance, administrative errors or flaws in the rushed and untested new procedures.

Over the past several decades, voting by mail has become more popular across the country. In 2018, Michigan amended its state constitution to allow for no-reason absentee voting, and registered voters may choose to be placed on a permanent mail ballot list. In the 2024 general election, 2,232,721 Michiganders voted by mail, accounting for 39% of votes in that election. Since the inception of vote-by-mail, Congress has never exercised its authority to limit it, and in fact, has only taken action to expand and protect mail voting for military and overseas voters. Congress has also never authorized USPS to monitor or control the transmission of mail ballots.

The coalition argues that USPS’s rule violates the Constitution, which makes clear that states have the primary authority to administer elections, and upends successful, longstanding vote-by-mail procedures. The lawsuit further argues the rule is inconsistent with USPS’s governing statutes, ignores USPS’s procedural requirements, violates the Privacy Act, and is inconsistent with federal voting rights law. The coalition asks the court to strike down the unlawful rule and issue a temporary restraining order preventing the rule from taking effect while the litigation proceeds.

This USPS rule is the latest attempt by President Trump to exert federal control over elections and seize states’ constitutional authority to administer elections. In April, Attorney General Nessel joined a coalition of 24 states in suing the Trump administration to block its unlawful Executive Order that prompted the creation of USPS’s rule.

Joining Attorney General Nessel in filing this lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaiʻi, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin, as well as the Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

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