Mailing a letter is about to get a bit more expensive as the United States Postal Service (USPS) rolls out another round of price hikes to combat ongoing financial troubles, all while navigating new scrutiny over proposed changes to mail-in voting.

Starting July 12, the cost of a First-Class Mail Forever Stamp will jump by 4 cents, moving from 78 cents to 82 cents—a 5% overall rate increase.

The price adjustments across standard services include:

• Forever Stamps: $0.78 $\rightarrow$ $0.82

• Domestic Postcards: $0.61 $\rightarrow$ $0.65

• Domestic Metered Mail: $0.74 $\rightarrow$ $0.78

• International Letters & Postcards: $1.70 $\rightarrow$ $1.75

USPS officials cite dropping mail volume alongside the obligation to serve over 168 million national delivery addresses as the primary drivers behind the increase. However, leadership candidly admits that raising rates won’t single-handedly fix the agency’s balance sheet.

“We are running out of cash, and we have to make tradeoffs,” Postmaster General David Steiner told lawmakers earlier this year. “We would love to have brand new trucks driving through the neighborhoods safely, but we don’t have enough cash to do it.”

Compounding its financial worries, the Postal Service is facing pushback over a proposed rule targeting absentee voting. Following an executive order from President Donald Trump requiring state-specific enrollment lists for mail-in ballots, USPS proposed nationwide standards that would require states to supply lists of “eligible mail voters” alongside “unique ballot barcodes.”

Several states have already signaled plans to challenge the proposed voting rules in court.

While the new postage rates take effect next month, the debate surrounding the agency’s long-term financial survival and universal service mandates remains unresolved.