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Statewide mail voting for this year\u2019s midterm elections kicks off Friday amid a churning legal battle over President Donald Trump\u2019s attempts to limit the practice<\/a> and mounting concern over Postal Service changes that some state officials blame for a rise in rejected ballots.<\/p>\n The developments have created a sense of uncertainty about a popular voting method<\/a> used by one-third of the nation\u2019s voters.<\/p>\n North Carolina on Friday is scheduled to become the first state to widely distribute mail ballots for this year\u2019s elections<\/a>, which will determine the balance of power in Congress for the remainder of Trump\u2019s term.<\/p>\n Election officials said that while they are closely monitoring the litigation, ballots will be mailed out as expected and the state is prepared to administer a secure election even if the new limits go forward.<\/p>\n \u201cWe believe that we are well positioned,\u201d Sam Hayes, executive director of the State Board of Elections, told reporters during a news conference in Raleigh on Thursday.<\/p>\n Trump frequently castigates mail voting and has falsely blamed it for his 2020 loss<\/a> to Democrat Joe Biden, which he sought to overturn<\/a>. Though he has repeatedly voted by mail himself<\/a>, the president is pushing to curtail access for others.<\/p>\n In March, Trump signed an executive order<\/a> seeking to limit mail balloting. States would have to submit lists of eligible voters to the Postal Service through an online portal that apparently is still inactive. Ballot envelopes also would have to comply with new Postal Service rules and include barcodes.<\/p>\n Trump’s directive has been held up by multiple lawsuits, but the U.S. Supreme Court last week handed down a procedural ruling<\/a> in Trump’s favor without weighing in on the merits of the case. On Thursday, the administration appealed another<\/a> ruling to the nation’s high court.<\/p>\n Election officials warn that headlines about the executive order and court fights have already confused some voters<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe biggest part of this is that it has sparked questions about what it is. \u2018What does this mean? What are you guys doing? Can I not vote by mail anymore?\u2019\u201d said Michael Dickerson, director of the Mecklenburg County Board of Elections.<\/p>\n \u201cI just want people to be assured that, yes, you can still vote by mail,\u201d he said, adding \u201cit\u2019s a safe and secure process.\u201d<\/p>\n While the issue has ping-ponged around the courts, election workers in North Carolina have been working hard to get ready for the Friday deadline, officials there said in interviews.<\/p>\n Wake County elections employees have been processing absentee request forms, which come in daily online and in paper form, said Olivia McCall, the county’s director of elections. They’ve also been coding ballots, running pre-election accuracy testing and packaging absentee packets that include a ballot, instructions and photo ID fliers, she said.<\/p>\n About 5,000 ballots will go out during Wake County’s first wave, she said.<\/p>\n The turnaround time for ballots being returned could be quick, too, noted Dickerson, especially for military and overseas voters who can vote through an online portal.<\/p>\n \u201cI guarantee you\u201d votes will begin rolling in that way by Saturday, he said.<\/p>\n North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson is among Democratic state officials who have aligned in one of the lawsuits challenging Trump’s executive order and the changes proposed by the Postal Service.<\/p>\n In a recent court filing, a representative of the office argued it was \u201cfar too late in the election cycle to introduce such dramatic changes\u201d and warned that implementing them would \u201cimminently cause significant harm, confusion and disruption in North Carolina election administration.\u201d<\/p>\n Officials with the State Board of Elections, which is led by a Republican majority, have projected confidence for a midterm cycle that is expected to see robust turnout, especially with a competitive U.S. Senate race on the ballot.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is business as usual, as far as I’m concerned,\u201d Hayes, the board’s executive director, said during the news conference.<\/p>\n The board has confirmed it has taken some initial steps to comply with the executive order, including submitting its envelopes to USPS for review. Hayes said they were approved. The state opted against submitting its voter information while the legal proceedings are pending. <\/p>\n A whistleblower told Congress<\/a> this week that with the portal, the agency is rushing an untested product that is likely to be riddled with errors that could lead to millions of mail ballots being rejected. The Postal Service has declined to comment<\/a> on the changes it\u2019s trying to make to comply with Trump\u2019s order given the ongoing litigation.<\/p>\n While the uncertainty around whether Trump\u2019s executive order will be implemented has created confusion, the League of Women Voters of North Carolina is issuing its standard advice to voters, urging them not to wait until the last minute to return their ballot.<\/p>\n \u201cThey should fill out their absentee ballot and mail or hand deliver it as quickly as possible,\u201d the group\u2019s president, Jennifer Rubin, said.<\/p>\n Election officials elsewhere also are warning voters to avoid delays in returning mail ballots, but not for reasons related to Trump’s attempts to alter the rules.<\/p>\n They are pointing to a change in how the Postal Service processes mail \u2014- with postmarks stamped at distant processing centers rather than local post offices \u2014 as a reason for what they say has been a spike in mail ballot rejections<\/a>. In many states, mail ballots arriving several days after an election can still be counted as long as they are postmarked by the final day of voting.<\/p>\n In California<\/a>, nearly 150,000 voters had their mail-in ballots rejected<\/a> in the state’s June primary, mostly because they were postmarked too late. Wisconsin officials wrote to the Postal Service after hundreds of ballots arrived too late to be counted during elections in April, which has prompted at least some of the state’s 1,850 municipal clerks to start sending mail ballots to voters earlier than usual.<\/p>\n In Washington, where voting is done almost entirely by mail, state officials issued a report this week saying the number of mail ballots rejected in the August primary because of a late postmark was 32% higher than the primary two years earlier.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy are we disenfranchising Americans when we’ve had one of the best systems in the United States?\u201d Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell said during a news conference<\/a> in her home state to promote the report.<\/p>\n