By Jeanette DeDios | KUNM News

New Mexico is joining 24 other states on Wednesday who are suing the United States Postal Service over its newly published rule that gives the USPS the authority to regulate voting by mail.

In the 2024 general election, 111,403 New Mexicans cast their ballot by mail.

In March, President Trump issued an executive order attempting to create a national list of eligible voters that the USPS could only mail ballots to.

Now, the U.S. Postal Service has implemented the President’s demands by requiring states to create registered voter lists. Under this rule, the postal service will not deliver ballots to voters who are not on the approved list.

In a press release, New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said this new rule, quote “imposes sweeping burdens just three weeks before ballots must be sent to New Mexicans serving overseas in the military.”

One specific burden on states is new design requirements for mail-in ballot envelopes, which must be approved by USPS.

So the states are arguing against having to bear the cost of redesigning their mail-in ballot envelopes. There is also concern that some eligible voters may not receive their ballots due to administrative errors or flaws because of the rushed change in procedures.

At the moment, because the newly released rule is being challenged in court again, it’s unclear whether it will be enforced for this year’s election.

Jeanette Dedios is a reporter at KUNM News. She is from the Jicarilla Apache and Diné Nations and grew up in Albuquerque, N.M. She graduated from the University of New Mexico in 2022 where she earned a bachelor’s degree in multimedia journalism, English and film. She was a 2022-2023 New Mexico Local News Fellow at KUNM. Jeanette can be contacted at jeanettededios@kunm.org.

This story was originally published by KUNM News.