Attorney General Jeff Jackson Sues Over New Mail-In Ballot Rule That Could Prevent Eligible North Carolinians from Voting

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, August 26, 2026
Contact: [email protected]
919-538-2809

RALEIGH - Today, Attorney General Jeff Jackson sued over a new United States Postal Service (USPS) mail-in voting rule that goes into effect only days before North Carolina law requires county boards of elections to begin mailing ballots for the midterm elections. The rule could mean that eligible voters won't receive lawfully requested absentee ballots in time to be returned and counted.

In North Carolina, hundreds of thousands of eligible citizens vote in midterm elections by mail. Those voters include elderly people, people with disabilities, people who are recovering from natural disasters like Hurricane Helene, and servicemembers who are stationed overseas. With mail-in ballots required to go out to eligible voters starting on Sept. 4, the new requirements risk their ability to receive their ballot in time for the upcoming election.

"The Constitution is clear on this: The states have the authority over elections, not the Postal Service," said Attorney General Jeff Jackson. "Not only is this last-minute rule change against the law, but it threatens North Carolinians' voting rights and imposes a whole new process right before an election. We're taking the Postal Service to court to stop it."

The new rule requires states to enroll nearly all mail-in voters in an electronic portal that USPS has never before used and on which USPS has not trained its employees or elections officials. The rule requires county boards of elections to provide USPS with the barcodes for each voter's ballot envelope. If election officials try to mail ballots to voters whose barcode USPS cannot find in the portal, USPS will refuse to mail those ballots regardless of whether North Carolina law allows those voters to vote by mail.

These are substantial procedural changes for county boards of elections that will be nearly impossible to implement within the next week. Even if North Carolina is able to meet these demands, administrative errors or flaws in the rushed and untested new procedures could still result in USPS refusing to mail lawfully requested ballots to eligible voters.

Attorney General Jackson's lawsuit argues that the rule violates the Constitution, which makes clear that states have the primary authority to administer elections, and upends successful, longstanding vote-by-mail procedures. He is asking the court to declare the rule unlawful and permanently stop the rule from being implemented and enforced. He is also asking for a temporary restraining order.

The USPS was directed to create these new regulations by an executive order earlier this year. This is the next step in Attorney General Jackson's ongoing lawsuit challenging that executive order. Trial and appellate courts ruled in the Attorney General's favor and imposed an injunction preventing the order from taking effect. On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court stayed the injunction for procedural reasons but did not rule on the facts of the case or the legality of the order.

Attorney General Jackson is joined in filing today's lawsuit by the attorneys general of California, Massachusetts, Nevada, Washington, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin, and the governor of Pennsylvania.

A copy of the lawsuit is here.

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