North Carolina Kicks Off Nationwide Mail-In Ballot Distribution Amid Federal Restrictions

North Carolina was prepared to begin distributing mail-in ballots to voters early Friday, becoming the first state to proceed with its standard vote-by-mail procedures as the Trump administration intensifies its efforts to limit the practice.

State election officials confirmed they would dispatch their initial batch of absentee ballots to the more than 46,000 voters who have submitted requests. Additional ballots will be mailed as further applications are received.

The distribution of ballots has the potential to complicate the Trump administration’s push to implement new mail-voting restrictions, which it contends, without providing evidence, are designed to identify tens of thousands of noncitizens who are unlawfully registered to vote.

The administration is seeking to enforce a regulation that mandates states to submit voter data and adopt a specific ballot envelope design enabling the U.S. Postal Service to scan a barcode for voter verification purposes. The rule also threatens to suspend mail delivery of ballots in noncompliant states.

However, with the fall election merely nine weeks away and administrators already dispatching mail ballots, a federal judge’s temporary injunction against the rule has placed the government in a time-sensitive situation. Nineteen other states are scheduled to mail ballots to voters by September 19.

Election officials in many of those states, including North Carolina, have indicated it would be unlikely for them to implement the new rule if courts permit it to take effect.

“It is far too late in the election cycle to introduce such dramatic changes,” stated Marc Brunton, North Carolina’s deputy attorney general, in a filing last week. Approximately two dozen states have sued the postal service in federal court in Massachusetts to block the rule, arguing that it violates the Constitution, which grants states and Congress—rather than the executive branch—the authority to administer elections.

A senior election official in Wisconsin asserted in court filings this week that compliance with the new requirements would be “virtually impossible.” In Washington, over five million ballot packets have already been printed, according to a court filing. Hawaii election officials noted in their submission that ordering new envelopes “from the continent on such short notice” would prove challenging.

President Trump has repeatedly advanced unfounded claims of widespread mail voting fraud, despite having voted by mail himself in two elections this year. Partially as a result of these assertions, Democrats have utilized mail voting at higher rates than Republicans in recent years, leading opponents to suspect that Trump is seeking to influence ballot delivery to affect the November outcome.

There are also concerns that the president’s campaign may generate confusion and distrust among voters, potentially discouraging some from participating in the election altogether.

While the president has stated his objective is to detect and disqualify ineligible voters to safeguard U.S. election integrity, he has also implied that mail voting restrictions would benefit Republican candidates.

On Thursday, the judge presiding over the Massachusetts case remarked during a hearing that the rule, which stems from an executive order issued by Trump, could result in “major disenfranchisement” of voters.

Later that day, the Trump administration submitted an emergency request to the Supreme Court to lift the freeze on the new rule, contending that the lower court’s injunction causes “serious irreparable harm on the federal government, the states themselves, and the voting public.”

The emergency request also indicated, however, that ballots already sent to voters might not fall under the rule change.

“Once those ballot envelopes enter the mail stream, there is no retrieving them,” wrote D. John Sauer, the solicitor general.

Voters in North Carolina, unlike in many other states, are more inclined to vote in person rather than by mail. Even in 2024, when Hurricane Helene devastated polling locations and displaced voters in western North Carolina, only about 5 percent of voters returned ballots by mail. Yet this margin could prove significant in a state with a Senate race critical to Democratic hopes of regaining the chamber.

State election officials stated on Thursday that, regardless of court decisions, they will adhere to the law.

“It is business as usual as far as I’m concerned,” remarked Sam Hayes, executive director of the North Carolina Board of Elections, which has a Republican majority, during a Thursday news conference.

Under the proposed Postal Service regulation, the agency would review ballots and could reject entire batches of up to 10,000 upon discovering a single ballot error.

Even if the Supreme Court permits the rule, the federal government may lack sufficient time to fully implement it. The Postal Service currently does not possess the technology to screen mail-in ballots as the regulation requires. The agency has been working to develop such a system rapidly, but a whistle-blower reported this week that the development process was hasty and poorly executed.

Eileen Sullivan, Richard Fausset, and Nick Corasaniti contributed reporting.

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