Whistleblower warns about USPS plan for Trump mail voting order A whistleblower says the U.S. Postal Service is rushing out an online system for President Trump's push to restrict mail voting that could "derail" the midterm election if courts allow it to proceed.
Whistleblower claims USPS plan for Trump’s mail voting order could ‘derail’ midterms
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Election workers stack ballots that were picked up at a U.S. Postal Service office to be processed in 2020 in Provo, Utah. George Frey/Getty Images hide caption
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The U.S. Postal Service could "derail" the midterm election if it continues rushing out "untested" technology as part of President Trump's push to restrict mail-in voting, a newly released whistleblower report warns.
With voting by mail for the midterms set to officially start this week, key parts of the USPS plan for carrying out Trump's directives, including requirements for states to comply, remain blocked for now by a court order in the legal fight over the president's executive order.
Still, the mailing agency has been preparing for months to launch an online portal that would allow state election officials to submit absentee voters' names and ballot envelope barcodes required by the now-blocked rule.
Testing of that new system, however, has been insufficient, according to claims by a whistleblower, outlined in a disclosure that Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut submitted Monday to USPS.
"USPS leadership, it appears, has discarded all best practices as they speed the project to be ready for a September 1 implementation — raising questions about whether catastrophic failure would be a feature rather than a bug," said the disclosure, prepared by Whistleblower Aid, a nonprofit organization representing the anonymous federal government official with direct knowledge of the Postal Service's development of the new system.
If courts allow USPS' plan for Trump's order to proceed for the midterms, problems with the online portal could lead to eligible absentee voters not receiving their mail-in ballots in time or at all.
One potential logistical hurdle, the whistleblower claimed, stems from an unusual "zero-percent failure policy" USPS has set for the process of verifying that the mail-in ballots states want to send out meet the requirements of its new rule.
"As designed, the process is entirely unforgiving. It could delay ballots by the thousands in repeated verification cycles — and thus prevent states from mailing enormous numbers of ballots," the disclosure said.
In a statement released Tuesday, a USPS spokesperson said the agency is "carefully reviewing" the concerns raised by the whistleblower.
"The Postal Service is now finalizing the portal and will soon make it available to election officials who voluntarily wish to familiarize themselves with the platform," the statement added. "USPS will also provide tools, presentations, and other resources to help election officials understand the platform and make informed decisions about whether and how they wish to use it."
Elections
Postal Service appeals order blocking plan for Trump's push to restrict mail voting
In a letter to Postmaster General David Steiner, Blumenthal urged Steiner to "abandon this ill-conceived, unconscionable plan and ensure that all Americans can exercise their constitutional right to vote, including by mail, without interference by USPS."
Blumenthal said on a phone call with reporters that he found the details of the disclosure "mind-boggling" as an elected official and U.S. citizen.
"And what the disclosure reveals is that the Postal Service has designed a system that is intended to fail," the senator added.
Democrats on the House Oversight Committee, led by Rep. Robert Garcia of California, are echoing the call for USPS to stop its plan, as well as requesting documents related to the agency's work on the portal.
"The Postal Service's reckless actions undermine the foundation of our nation's democracy and violate the basic principle that all citizens have the right to have their vote counted," the House Democrats wrote Tuesday in a letter to Steiner that cites NPR's reporting.
The president, who has voted by mail himself, defended his directives for USPS and other federal agencies as a way to curb illegal voting by non-U.S. citizens, which many studies and audits show is extremely rare.
Last week, a federal judge in Boston issued a temporary restraining order against USPS after finding that its plan for Trump's order is likely illegal because the mailing agency has no authority to control voting by mail.
The Trump administration has appealed that ruling to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, setting up what will likely be another battle at the Supreme Court, which has not yet weighed in on the legality of Trump's directives.
More lower court rulings on Trump's order may also be on the way as election officials and mail-in voters attempt to sort through the uncertainty the ongoing legal fight has caused.
Editor's note: USPS is a financial supporter of NPR.
Edited by Megan Pratz
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