Facing time crunch, North Carolina takes first step to comply with new USPS mail voting rule while fighting it

North Carolina election officials took the first step to comply with the U.S. Postal Service’s (USPS) new rule implementing parts of President Donald Trump’s anti-mail voting executive order — even as the state fights to block the order in federal court. 

It’s the first reported example of a state submitting voting materials in response to the new USPS rule.

The North Carolina State Board of Elections submitted envelopes to the USPS for review and approval, the board confirmed Thursday. The rule requires that envelopes for mail ballots include trackable barcodes for each voter, among other design elements. Trump’s order also required that states submit a list of approved voters who are eligible to receive mail ballots. The USPS will not deliver ballots to anyone who is not on those lists.

“This complies with the requirement that we upload a list of everyone we’re sending a ballot to by mail and that is the only requirement,” the board said in a statement.

The Trump administration has continued its legal assault to overhaul mail voting, even in the face of imminent state deadlines to send mail ballots to voters for the upcoming November election. North Carolina has a Sept. 4 deadline under state law to mail out ballots to voters who prefer to vote absentee. 

“Our office is confident that the county boards of elections plan to send out absentee ballots to North Carolina voters who have requested them for this election, starting September 4, as required by state law, will happen flawlessly and smoothly,” the statement continued. “We do not wish to comment on hypothetical scenarios, but if it becomes necessary, we will do our best to comply with any court decisions, as we always do.”

Votebeat first reported the news about North Carolina’s submission Thursday.

North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson, a Democrat, joined other Democratic attorneys general to fight the USPS order in court. However, the state board of elections is controlled by GOP officials.

Late Friday, USPS announced it would proceed with implementing its rule enacting parts of the challenged executive order. After federal courts lifted injunctions blocking the rule, it went into effect.

North Carolina is part of a coalition of 24 states and the District of Columbia challenging the changes in court. 

Some election officials, however, have said it’s now too close to an election to make major changes, saying implementing the new USPS rules now would create confusion and chaos.