Cybersecurity Policy Report, Election ‘Integrity’ Rules Would Violate Privacy Act, State AGs Tell Postal Service, (Jul 6, 2026)
A U.S. Postal Service (USPS) proposal that would implement portions of the Trump administration’s plan to restrict voting by mail would run afoul of the Privacy Act of 1974, according to attorneys general from 24 states.
The AGs filed comments with the USPS on Thursday urging the agency to withdraw a proposed rule that would “create a centralized list of voter information and result in eligible voters who are not on that list being denied delivery of their ballots, essentially giving the federal government control over elections conducted by mail,” California AG Rob Bonta (D.) noted in a news release.
“Neither USPS nor the President may unilaterally interfere with States’ election regulations or commandeer States in service of a federal data collection program,” the AGs told USPS.
“The Proposed Rule would also violate USPS’s governing statutes, exercising authority USPS does not have and imposing restrictions not authorized by Congress. The Proposed Rule would further run afoul of the federal voting laws, including the Help America Vote Act and Voting Rights Act Amendments of 1970, as well as the Privacy Act,” they said.
The USPS rule is designed to implement provisions of an election “integrity” executive order (EO) issued by President Trump in March. The EO calls on the Social Security Administration and Department of Homeland Security to use their databases to create “state citizenship” lists of eligible voters (CPR, April 1).
The AGs noted that a federal court had already ruled that the rules proposed by USPS would violate federal law, and they urged USPS to withdraw the proposal. “If enacted, the Proposed Rule would hijack the resources of the States to effectuate an unconstitutional federal data collection program by requiring the States to provide USPS with the name, address, and unique Intelligent Mail barcode for each voter,” they said.
“The Proposed Rule cites USPS’s general statutory authority to investigate and enforce criminal laws. 91 Fed. Reg. at 32,915 (citing 18 U.S.C. § 3061). But that statute enumerates USPS’s powers in subsection (a), and creating a preventive surveillance program is not among them,” the AGs argued. “Nor does a general grant of authority to investigate ‘criminal matters’ grant USPS license to surveil all mail ballots.”
In addition to AG Bonta, the comments submitted to USPS were signed by the AGs of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.
News: FederalLegislation DataPrivacy