Marked Late: The Postal Policy Change That Could Cost You a Vote, a Refund, or Your Rights

What a single policy shift reveals about who is seen and who is left behind.

In late summer of 2025, the United States Postal Service quietly revised a long‑standing assumption about one of its most iconic functions: the postmark. In August, and with formal implementation set for December 24, 2025, USPS began applying postmarks not when mail is dropped off or accepted at a local post office but when it is first processed through…