US Postal Union Launches Pro-Mail Voting Ad Campaign Amid Trump Feud
A major United States Postal Service union has initiated a national television advertising campaign promoting voting by mail, stepping directly into a highly politicised debate that has been intensified by scepticism from President Donald Trump and other critics regarding mail-in ballots.
Campaign Details and Historical Context
The 30-second advertisement, sponsored by the 200,000-member American Postal Workers Union (APWU), features a diverse array of voters—including a busy farmer and a flight attendant—explaining their personal reasons for choosing to cast ballots via mail. Announced on Tuesday, the campaign is scheduled to begin airing this week in Ohio, a state with historical significance as the location where Union Army soldiers cast the first mail ballots during the Civil War in 1864. The union plans to subsequently expand the campaign to additional states across the nation.
The advertisement concludes with the clear message: "Vote by mail — keep it, protect it, expand it." This initiative emerges just two weeks after President Trump signed an executive order aimed at establishing a nationwide list of verified eligible voters, which would then prohibit postal workers from sending absentee ballots to individuals not included on each state's approved roster.
Union Opposition and Legal Challenges
President Trump's executive order was immediately met with lawsuits and strong opposition from postal worker unions. The National Rural Letter Carriers' Association asserted that the USPS is "not equipped or authorized to decide who is or is not entitled to vote," arguing that forcing the postal service into such a role "risks politicizing one of the nation's most trusted public institutions." The union further cautioned that the order threatens public confidence in both the mail system and the electoral process.
Jonathan Smith, president of the American Postal Workers Union, clarified that his union's television advertisement was produced before Trump's latest executive order was issued, and therefore does not constitute a direct response to it. However, Smith emphasised the union's desire to encourage citizens to continue utilising mail voting, while expressing significant concern about the potential consequences of requiring postal workers to determine who should or should not receive an absentee ballot.
"It is our position that it is not the job of the postal workers to verify voter eligibility," Smith stated. "It is our job to move mail from one destination to the next." He added pointedly: "We do not want to be politicized."
Trump's Contradictory Stance and Fraud Claims
President Trump, who himself voted by mail as recently as last month, has publicly criticised mail voting as a source of widespread fraud and is urging Congress to curtail it through sweeping legislation. Mail voting has been a standard practice for over a century and had steadily gained popularity in both Democratic- and Republican-led states until 2020, when President Trump began targeting the method with baseless claims of mass fraud. Consequently, the practice has since become notably less popular among Republican voters.
A comprehensive report published by the Brookings Institution in 2025 found that instances of mail voting fraud occurred in only a minuscule fraction of total mail ballots cast—approximately four cases out of every 10 million mail ballots, highlighting the extreme rarity of such incidents.
Educational Message to Voters
The television advertisement is intended as a direct message to American voters, rather than as a communication aimed at the president or political figures. "Our message is to America: Vote by mail is efficient, it's safe, and it's successful. Period," Mr. Smith affirmed. "This is educating the American people that you can use vote by mail and you can be guaranteed that your voice will be heard and your vote will be counted."
President Trump's latest election executive order is already facing multiple legal challenges from various groups, including Democrats in Washington who contend that the Constitution empowers states and Congress, not the president, to establish election rules. Messages seeking comment were left with the White House and the Postal Service, but no immediate responses were provided.
