President Donald Trump’s postmaster general told senators that under a newly proposed rule, the U.S. Postal Service would refuse to deliver mail-in ballots in states that withhold their voter rolls from the Trump administration.
The USPS is considering a new rule that would require states to provide the names, addresses, and ballot barcode numbers for anyone who requests a mail-in ballot, effectively providing the Trump administration with a federal absentee voter database.
Asked during a Homeland Security Committee hearing Wednesday whether USPS would deliver election mail if states refuse to hand over their voter lists, Postmaster General David Steiner responded unequivocally.
“Under our proposed regulation, no,” he replied. “We would tell the state that we need the manifest.”
The move comes as White House insiders have expressed alarm about Republicans’ chances in the November midterm elections in the face of Trump’s record-low approval ratings and widespread voter dissatisfaction with the war in Iran and the cost-of-living crisis.
The proposed rule would require state election officials to hand over the list at least 30 days before ballots are sent out under state law, and voters who aren’t on the list wouldn’t receive a ballot.
It cites Trump’s March executive order seeking to create lists of eligible voters and restrict mail-in voting, which Trump has repeatedly described as “cheating” despite mailing in his own ballots.
At least five lawsuits have challenged the executive order, which was in jeopardy Thursday after a federal judge ruled the Trump administration was trying to unlawfully interfere with states’ administration of federal elections.
The Constitution explicitly grants states the authority to run elections while giving Congress a limited oversight role.
During the Homeland Security Committee hearing, ranking Democrat Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan said the proposed rule was illegal and would “coerce” states into providing the Trump administration with sensitive voter data.
The Justice Department last summer asked nearly every state for copies of their statewide voter registration lists. When officials from 30 states and the District of Columbia refused, the administration sued to try to obtain the information.
So far, nine federal district courts and the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals have ruled in favor of the states, CBS News reported Wednesday.
“This is basically a back-door way for the federal government to get voting information that states control under the U.S. Constitution,” Peters told Steiner. “You are going to make a decision that people cannot vote by mail… That’s unacceptable.”
Steiner responded to the criticism by saying the rule was not an attempt to federalize elections, but rather sought to ensure “the right ballots are going to the right people.”
The American Postal Workers Union, however, issued a statement this month saying it was “deeply alarmed” by the proposed change, which it called an “unconstitutional attack on the millions of Americans who vote by mail.”
“The union rejects the premise that the USPS has to comply with the Executive Order” underpinning the new rule, the statement said.
Public comments on the proposed change can be submitted until July 2, while the executive order instructs the postal service to issue its final rule by the end of the month.
