Recently, I moderated a national event that had college students speaking with election officials, something I often find myself doing this time of year. This year, a new question kept coming up: “If I’m voting by mail, can I trust my ballot will actually show up?”

For college students, such considerations have urgency. Many are voting in their first major election, often while living away from home. They may be deciding whether to register where they attend college or request an absentee ballot from home. This year, many are weighing whether they trust the process that will bring their vote from the mailbox to the ballot box to be counted.

This uncertainty comes after a monthslong legal fight over the U.S. Postal Service’s role in mail voting, sparked by President Donald Trump’s attempts to dramatically limit mail voting. On Sept. 14, 2026, the Supreme Court barred new Postal Service restrictions on election mail from taking effect.

The court’s decision resolved the immediate question of whether the restrictions would stand. But it did not settle the larger question that now hangs over this election: Can voters trust the machinery of elections in the first place?

I’m a political scientist, and I study elections and voting. For more than a decade, I’ve helped lead nonpartisan student voter engagement efforts at the University of Maine and helped recruit and train student poll workers. I also serve alongside them, administering elections.

That dual role has given me an unusual view of elections – both as a researcher studying public........

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