Tiny spacing snag in Florida ballot envelope tests looming mail-voting hurdles

USPS briefly rejected Leon County, Florida's mail-ballot envelope for spacing between the return-address and 'return service requested' text (0.236 inches apart instead of the required 0.25). After an appeal, the county won approval on Sept. 10. The incident illustrates potential disruption if USPS finalizes its envelope-design rule tied to Trump-era efforts to curb mail voting, a rule currently blocked by a federal injunction but under Supreme Court consideration. Officials say the proposed online portal for submitting designs and voter lists isn’t ready, and while Leon County already uses unique barcodes for its 32,000 mail voters, the episode foreshadows how petty technical rejections could complicate ballots ahead of Election Day.