The executive committee of the United States Postal Service is attempting to triple the cost of mailing ballots to voters in the November election, increasing a cost that may make widespread mail-in voting unaffordable to some states, Salon reports.

The normal cost to mail a ballot to a voter is 20¢, the cost of a piece of bulk mail (known as “marketing mail”).  These pieces of mail qualify for that rate because they are pre-sorted and sent in bulk according to directions put forth by the USPS.

Under the new proposal, the USPS would charge 55¢ per piece sent by local election boards, effectively tripling to state and county boards of election.

Additionally, 17 states prepay for the return of the ballots, which would add additional cost to mail-in balloting.  Other states require voters to pay for the stamp.

Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren called this an effort to sabotage the vote-by-mail process at a late stage in the election cycle.

This is the clearest example yet of Trump and his puppet Postmaster General's attempts to sabotage the USPS before November's election.

This kind of behavior is why we're demanding an investigation into Trump’s USPS—the Inspector General should add this to their list. https://t.co/2aXcLeZsF9

— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) August 8, 2020

It is unclear whether the USPS can implement such a change in the next 88 days before the election.  The change would have to go through an official review and a time for public comment.  However, such a move could impede the mailing of ballots until the issue is clarified, limiting early vote by mail participation.