By Keith Mobley
Anyone following U.S. politics is aware the Republican Party has concerns about forthcoming elections. Being in the majority in the House and Senate with a president of the same party has provided power and opportunity. However, the loss of the majority in either chamber, or possibly both, could be devastating to them and their president.
Nearly all the polls are demonstrating voters are ready for change, so Republicans are, and have been, hard at work finding ways to influence voters and voting. One of the ways is found in a rule change in postal regulations that became effective on Dec. 24, 2025.
A March 12 headline in a release from the office of Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden sounds the alarm regarding the rule change: “Wyden Presses Trump Administration Over USPS Changes Jeopardizing Americans’ Tax Returns, Mail-In Ballots; Senator says recent postmarking rule change and consolidation of processing facilities will result in delays for tax returns and mail-in ballots in a consequential election year.”
The rule change is in the definition of “postmark,” the date printed or stamped on most items placed in the mail. It jeopardizes time sensitive items dropped off in mailboxes.
A postmark from the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) used to indicate when mail was dropped off at an office or in a mailbox. Now, it reflects the date an envelope is processed by an automatic sorting machine, which could be days later.
It’s a clarification, not a new rule, USPS maintains: “This new language in the DMM [Domestic Mail Manual] does not change any existing postal operations or postmarking practices, but is instead intended to improve public understanding of postmarks and their relationship to the date of mailing.”
Sen. Wyden takes a different view in his release: “The American people have no choice but to see these efforts as a politically-motivated attempt to interfere in Oregon’s safe and secure vote-by-mail system during a consequential election year” (“Wyden Presses Trump Administration Over USPS Changes Jeopardizing Americans’ Tax Returns, Mail-In Ballots,” wyden.senate.gov).
Here is the USPS Final Rule provision responding to similar concerns expressed in comments on the proposed rule:
“Multiple comments then assert that DMM Section 608.11 will cause an uptick in missed deadlines. This assertion is misplaced. To reiterate, the present rulemaking entails no change to postmarking practices but aims instead to educate the public as to the postmark’s meaning. If customers are aware that the postmark date may not align with the date on which the Postal Service first accepted possession of a mailpiece, they will be better equipped to adjust their plans accordingly” (emphasis added; see public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2025-20740.pdf).
In other words, those who know about this rule change will be able to go to a Postal Service Office and assure they have a timely postmark. However, “adjusting their plans” will require not only awareness of this requirement, but also getting to a postal facility. At the same time, USPS is consolidating nearly 200 facilities into 60 regional processing locations in a cost-saving reorganization measure.
“More than 70% of post offices will now be more than 50 miles away from a regional processing center, according to an analysis from the Brookings Institution. More than 25% of post offices will be 150 miles or more away” (“How this new mail rule could affect your ballot, your tax return and more,” PBS News, Jan. 5, 2026).
Remember, tax filers risk financial penalties if their paper returns aren’t postmarked on time, and election offices only process ballots received after Election Day if they’re postmarked by Election Day. All Oregonians who plan to vote on May 19 need to “adjust their plans” to assure their votes will be counted.
Finally, I urge our county clerks to reach out to their constituents with what those plans need to include.
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Keith Mobley, Dufur, is a retired lawyer who was a Republican candidate for the Oregon House of Representatives in 1980. He grew up on a wheat and cattle ranch near Shaniko.
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