JERSEYVILLE – Jersey County Clerk Pam Warford gave an update on mail-in voting in the county at the Sept. 8, 2026 County Board meeting as an executive order on the subject remains blocked in court.
Warford said an executive order restricting mail-in voting issued by President Donald Trump is currently facing a legal challenge. While the executive order has cast uncertainty over the county’s mail-in voting process, Warford said local election officials will continue ahead as usual while the issue is decided in court.
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“The bottom line is, we don’t know exactly what our procedure will be for vote-by-mail,” Warford said. “If folks have requested a ballot by mail, we are going to issue those ballots one way or another.”
The executive order would create a federal list of eligible mail-in voters from each state. Under a new United States Postal Service rule, voters would only be eligible to vote by mail after entering certain information, including their name and address, into a new portal at least 30 days before a federal election.
The rule, also being challenged in court, would block the Postal Service from sending mail-in ballots to individuals not on the list if the executive order goes into effect. It would also require election officials to include certain barcodes on mail ballot envelopes, some of which have already been ordered for the 2026 elections.
An Aug. 28, 2026 report from the Congressional Research Service shows compliance with the executive order “may increase operational costs for USPS and election officials,” including “costs associated with redesigning balloting materials, implementing the use of [Intelligent Mail barcodes and Service Type Identifiers] and complying with new postal standards and procedures.”
If the order is made effective this election cycle, Warford said these higher costs may trickle down to county election officials.
“I’d like to know that if the court challenges to this fail and the executive order takes place for the November 2026 election, it’s going to be costly and I may be over budget,” she said. “It’s a fluid situation day to day.”
Warford said mail-in ballots are expected to be sent out on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026.
