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No. Federal law makes it a crime to mail lottery tickets, and the ban covers just about anything lottery-related: tickets, shares, and even envelopes that advertise a lottery. The one exception belongs to state lotteries themselves, which may mail material inside their own state. Buy the ticket in person, or hand it over yourself.
The law is 18 U.S.C. 1302, and it is broader than most people expect. It bars mailing lottery tickets, fractional shares of tickets, and "any paper, certificate, or instrument purporting to be or represent a ticket." Courts have read that language generously: circulars, advertisements, and lists of prizes connected to a lottery count too. Even the outside of the envelope can get you in trouble, because material advertising a lottery printed on an envelope or wrapper is itself nonmailable. It is a criminal statute, not a postal regulation, so the penalty is a fine or prison, not just a returned envelope.
Yes, and this is the scenario that catches people. You buy a Powerball ticket while visiting family in another state and mail it home to a state that also sells Powerball. Both states run legal lotteries, the ticket is genuine, and nobody is being defrauded, but the federal ban does not care about any of that. It bans private individuals from mailing lottery tickets, full stop. The state lotteries got a narrow exception for their own mailings inside their own state; you did not.
| Situation | Mailable? |
|---|---|
| You mail a lottery ticket to a friend | No, federal crime |
| You mail a photocopy or scan of a ticket | No, still covered |
| An envelope advertising a lottery | No, the advertising itself is banned |
| A state lottery mails promotions inside its own state | Yes, narrow statutory exception |
| You mail a ticket for a foreign lottery into the US | No, separately banned |
The ban does not distinguish between a state lottery and the charity raffle at your kid's school. Raffle tickets are lottery tickets in the eyes of the statute, so mailing them is covered by the same ban. Office pools create their own mess: the organizer who collects cash and buys tickets is fine, but mailing the tickets or the pool agreement to participants crosses the line. If your pool spans states, keep the tickets with the buyer and share photos instead. A photo of a ticket is evidence of the agreement; a mailed ticket is a federal offence.
The honest answer is that the ticket has to travel with a person, not through the mail. Hand it over in person, or have the recipient buy their own ticket where they live. If the point is a gift, most state lotteries now sell gift tickets or online play through their official sites and apps, which sidesteps the mail entirely. And if you already mailed one, do not try to intercept it or mail a second one to fix it. Leave it alone and do not repeat it.
This is general information, not legal advice.
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