On December 24, 2025, the United States Postal Service (USPS) published revisions to the Domestic Mail Manual (DMM) regarding USPS’s policies and operations related to the use of postmarks, prompting questions about how these revisions may affect mail voting.
In USPS’s own words, the newly adopted Section 608.11 of the DMM “is intended to explain the Postal Service’s operational use of the postmark, identify the markings that qualify as postmarks, and clarify what information such markings can be reliably taken to convey.”
USPS has repeatedly stated that the newly published sections of the DMM do not reflect any changes related to USPS’s use of postmarks. Rather, they memorialize existing USPS policy and procedures regarding the use of postmarks and — for the first time in the DMM — define what a postmark is and what it signifies.
So, Does This Revision Affect Mail Voting?
USPS has confirmed that nothing in Section 608.11 of the DMM changes any USPS policy related to the treatment and delivery of Ballot Mail. It is longstanding USPS policy to treat all Ballot Mail as First-Class Mail, regardless of its actual paid mail class, and to endeavor to postmark every return ballot mailed by a voter.
When and how mail is postmarked has significant implications for elections — particularly in states and localities that conduct their elections entirely or primarily by mail.
In 16 states and the District of Columbia, mailed ballots can be counted if they are received by a deadline set after Election Day — but only if they are postmarked on or before Election Day.
Many people may not know that USPS does not apply a postmark to everything sent through the mail. Rather, the postmark’s main intended purpose is to cancel postage stamps after use.
But with these revisions, the DMM now expressly indicates that, because a postmark inscribes the date and place of its application, a postmark also demonstrates that USPS had custody of the mail piece on the inscribed date, if not sooner.
USPS has also clarified in the DMM that the date of a postmark may not always necessarily reflect the exact date that USPS took custody of a piece of mail. This has always been true due to mail processing delays, where a small number of mail pieces may end up postmarked the day after USPS takes possession of them.
USPS has acknowledged that the Regional Transportation Optimization (RTO) initiative, which includes the consolidation of mail processing centers across the country, will make it more common that postmarks may not necessarily reflect the date that USPS took possession of a mail piece.
How Can You Make Sure Your Ballot Is Counted?
Those who rely on voting by mail, such as voters in rural communities, may have concerns over the consolidation of mail processing centers. As such, the RTO initiative merits continued monitoring to ensure that voters in areas affected by the RTO processing center consolidations are not unduly burdened by mail delays.
Partially for these reasons, USPS continues to recommend that voters who plan to vote by mail send their ballots at least seven days before Election Day (or at least one week before the final receipt date in states with post-Election Day deadlines) to ensure timely receipt by election officials.
Sending in your ballot early also ensures that ballots can be delivered to election offices on time in states where ballots must be received by Election Day to be counted.
Voters who want to ensure that their Ballot Mail is postmarked on the date it is received by USPS may go to any post office or other USPS retail location and request a manual postmark free of charge.
Voters may also choose to purchase a Certificate of Mailing, which will provide them with a receipt indicating the date that USPS took possession of their Ballot Mail — however, this extra step is not required, and USPS does not include it in their recommendations for voters who send their ballots by mail.
In any event, this new postmarking guidance from USPS should serve as a guarantee to election officials that returned Ballot Mail with a postmark dated on or before Election Day was cast by the voter and transmitted to USPS on that date at the latest.
Voters also should continue to trust that USPS will securely, safely and reliably deliver mail-in ballots to election officials — while keeping in mind USPS’s recommendations about turning in mail ballots with sufficient advance time to ensure that they can be delivered to election officials on time.
Voting by mail is a safe, secure and accessible way to vote that has been used in the United States for more than 150 years. Voters should be confident that their vote, no matter how they cast their ballot, will be counted, and their voice will be heard.