A new U.S. Postal Service policy on postmarks has taken effect in Utah, and voting rights groups said it could cause many ballots, particularly those in rural areas, to be rejected.
The change means mail will not be postmarked when it is first received at the local post office but only after it reaches a regional processing facility, which could be several days later.
In Utah, mail-in ballots must be in the hands of election officials by 8 p.m. on Election Day to be counted.
Lannie Chapman, clerk of Salt Lake County, said voters using mail-in ballots should allow enough time for them to be delivered by the deadline.
"A bill was passed, House Bill 300, that changed us from a postmark state to a ballot-enhanced state," Chapman pointed out. "So we're no longer looking at postmarks."
Utah law requires every town or city to have a ballot drop box as an alternative, though it could force some rural voters to drive dozens or even hundreds of miles to cast their vote for the midterm elections in November.
The new postmark rule took effect on Christmas Eve. The Postal Service argued the changes are necessary to save money and increase efficiency.
Michael Chameides, communications and policy director for the Rural Democracy Initiative, said the policy change is part of a larger trend by the Trump administration to undermine mail-in voting.
"These changes are going to make the mail go slower, and it's going to make the postmark be the wrong date, so more people are going to have their ballots discounted because of this bureaucratic change," Chameides said. "That is ultimately unfair."
Utah automatically sends mail-in ballots to all registered voters prior to each election. Previously, Utah ballots postmarked by Election Day could be counted if they arrived within two weeks.