Senate Democrats sound alarm over Trump’s Postal Service plans for mail-in ballots
Senate Democrats are calling on the U.S. Postal Service not to move ahead with new mail-in ballot regulations that, they say, will “establish President Trump’s control over federal elections.”
In a new letter first shared with MS NOW, all 47 members of the Senate Democratic Caucus warned Postal Service leaders that the proposed changes would “fundamentally upend” the role of the postal service, transforming it “into a federal election administration agency — with frightening authorities to disenfranchise Americans.”
The letter, led by Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan, was sent to USPS in advance of Postmaster General David Steiner’s scheduled appearance before the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday.
Democrats on the panel are expected to use the unrelated hearing as an opportunity to press Steiner about the policy change — which they see as giving USPS “ultimate authority to decide which Americans” can receive a mail-in ballot and thus “cast a ballot by mail.”
The Postal Service announced the new rules in May, in accordance with a March executive order from President Donald Trump, which called for tightening mail-in voting regulations.
Among other things, the new rules would require states to submit to USPS the names and addresses of voters receiving mail-in or absentee ballots.
They would also set mandatory best practices for federal elections, including creating new requirements for mail-in ballot envelopes and tracking barcodes.
The new rules, per an analysis from CNBC, would apply to general, special and runoff federal elections. Primaries or ballots sent to military and overseas voters would not be affected.
In its filing with the Federal Register earlier this month, USPS said the proposed requirement that states submit voter lists will help “facilitate law enforcement efforts.”
“The provided lists will evidence how many ballots have been mailed,” the filing said, “and allow law enforcement officials to compare the total number of mailed ballots to the total number of received ballots to detect potential issues meriting further investigation.”
However, in their letter, Senate Democrats warn this proposal would leave the Trump administration with extensive power over the polls — ones not in compliance with the Constitution, which says that the “Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof.”
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Kevin Frey is a congressional reporter for MS NOW.
