USPS officials raise concerns over new mail-ballot rules as they move forward

Top officials of the United States Postal Service voiced concerns in internal meetings that the mail-voting regulations they were drafting could delay or block ballots for large numbers of voters ahead of the midterm elections. The concerns were disclosed to a whistleblower who filed a complaint with Sen. Richard Blumenthal, describing the process as “secretive, rushed, chaotic, and fundamentally flawed.”

The rules stem from a March executive order by President Donald Trump that required the Postal Service to create a system in which states provide a list of all voters eligible for mail ballots and the agency uses that list to verify and potentially reject ballots. The draft included a new portal for states to upload voter data and software for local post offices to track and possibly block ballots.

Voting-rights groups, state officials and Democratic organizations have sued to block the requirements, and a federal court has issued a temporary injunction. The case is expected to reach the Supreme Court before the November election, but experts say the system may not be ready in time for overseas and military voters who must receive ballots this month.

During the internal discussions, officials debated how to limit harm to voters while complying with the order. One recurring worry was that a single unverified ballot could cause an entire batch to be rejected. The whistleblower noted that the final rule retained a provision that would reject a bulk mailing if any barcode failed to scan, potentially sending thousands of ballots back to the state.

Election officials raised similar issues at a National Association of Election Officials conference in August, citing examples such as Maricopa County, Arizona, which ships more than two million ballots at once. USPS representatives acknowledged that a single bad barcode could delay the whole mailing.

The Postal Service has defended the rule in court, saying it does not intend to take control of election administration and that it “need not and should not prevent a single voter from voting by mail.” A USPS spokesperson said the agency is reviewing the whistleblower’s concerns and will soon issue guidance for election officials. White House spokesperson Lauren Bis said the software development is routine for the Postal Service, which regularly uses bulk mailing and intelligent-mail barcodes.

Sen. Blumenthal, who received the whistleblower’s disclosure, said the rule puts all mail voters at risk and accused the administration of changing election procedures for political reasons. Election-printing experts warned that errors in barcode design, voter-list formats and envelope specifications could cause widespread delays, noting that many counties lack the necessary barcode infrastructure.

The whistleblower also alleged that the Postal Service proceeded with system development during two court injunctions, potentially violating the orders. According to the disclosure, staff began work in mid-June with a September 1 deadline, a timeline far shorter than the nine months typically needed for such a system. Internal staff described the effort as chaotic and referred to it as a “shit show.”