Postmaster general’s remarks on mail ballots stoke fears among voting rights advocates

Postmaster General David Steiner raised fears among Democrats and voting rights groups this week after confirming that the U.S. Postal Service would not deliver mail ballots in states that refuse to provide sensitive voter data to the federal government.

The Trump administration’s push for mail-in voting is becoming a point of contention ahead of November’s general election. Critics have raised alarm over what they call an attempt to overstep the authority of the federal government. Some courts agreed.

A federal judge on Thursday blocked the proposal from moving forward after a number of Democratic-led states filed suit.

Celina Stewart, chief executive officer of the League of Women Voters, said the postmaster general’s statement created a “credibility issue.”

“The comments he made are particularly concerning because voting is a right, and now it’s presented as this risk profile, and when ballot access starts to be seen as questionable behavior, which I think is fundamental here, democracy itself starts to be scrutinized, I think that’s really problematic,” Stewart said.

“And if we think about why the Postal Service exists, it is to serve the public, not to serve as a data pipeline for political agendas.”

President Trump issued an executive order in March directing the agency to propose a rule requiring states to submit a list of eligible voters to the Postal Service at least 60 days before any federal election, in line with the president’s efforts to crack down on questionable voters. mail voter fraud.

At a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing last week, lawmakers asked whether the agency would continue sending ballots to states that refuse to comply with the Trump administration’s proposed rule. Steiner replied: “Under our proposed regulation, no.”

He defended the measure, saying it was to ensure “the right votes go to the right people.”

“I think states are going to want information to make sure that the ballots they think they’re sending are actually the ballots that were sent,” said Steiner, who reports to the Postal Service board of directors.

Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon (D) called the proposed rule “deeply problematic on several levels” during a panel discussion Wednesday, adding that it would not work with certain state laws governing elections.

“We’re 132 days away from the general election, so talking about having this kind of apparatus up this soon is something that I think election administrators everywhere are very, very nervous about.”

The Constitution gives election administration authority to the states, and the executive branch has no authority over elections.

Eight states and Washington DC allow elections to be held entirely by mailIncluding California, Washington state, Utah and Colorado.

Steiner acknowledged that the Postal Service had no authority to conduct elections. Instead, he characterized the rule as a procedural measure to ensure that ballots are sent only to eligible voters.

David Becker, founder and executive director of the nonpartisan Center for Election Innovation and Research, pushed back on Steiner’s reasoning, saying it would create unnecessary burdens for states.

“A much better alternative is the status quo, which has worked incredibly well for over 150 years of mail-in voting,” he said. “The states are doing an extremely good job of this. The postmaster and the Postal Service have no expertise in assessing voter eligibility.”

He added that the system would be “impossible to implement” in November and was “almost designed to create chaos.”

Democratic lawmakers criticized the proposed rule as illegal and undermining democracy.

Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) argued in a statement to The Hill that neither Trump nor the postmaster general “are authorized to restrict ballot access, including restricting mail-in voting.”

“Mail voting is safe, secure and reliable,” Padilla said. “While this decision stops USPS [U.S. Postal Service] Rulemaking that could restrict access to mail-in ballots is a victory; “We will remain vigilant and push back against Donald Trump’s attempts to ‘take over’ the election.”

Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) called the rule “blatantly illegal” and said it could “reduce participation in our democracy.”

And retired New York University professor Steve Hutkins, who runs the website savethepostoffice.comHe said the reputation of the postmaster general and the Postal Service has already been damaged by this proposed rule.

“Even if that doesn’t happen, the newspapers are full of articles with headlines saying things like the postmaster general saying he won’t deliver ballots by mail unless states comply with Trump’s order,” he said. “That’s too bad… it’s always one of the two most trusted institutions in government.”

Trump’s March order faced multiple lawsuits. Last month, a judge cleared the way for the order to continue. But a federal judge on Thursday sided with a coalition of nearly two dozen states to block the order aimed at creating a federal voter list and using the Postal Service to determine who can receive mail-in ballots.

Judge Indira Talwani, appointed by former President Obama, wrote: according to him Provisions in Trump’s order “unconstitutionally violate the separation of powers.”

The White House stood by the legality of the executive order.

“President Trump is committed to ensuring that Americans have full confidence in the administration of elections, and this includes accurate, fully accurate and up-to-date voter rolls and illegally registered non-citizen voters,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement to The Hill. “The Civil Rights Act, the National Voting Rights Act, and the Help America Vote Act give the Department of Justice full authority to ensure that states comply with federal election laws that mandate accurate state voter rolls.”

Trump has frequently criticized mail-in voting and pushed false claims without evidence since he first ran for president in 2016. Allegations of fraud became even louder following his defeat in the 2020 presidential election.

Despite this, he described this practice as “cheating by mail”. voting by mail Himself in Florida special election.

“The Trump administration continues to strip states of their election powers despite repeated court losses,” Dax Goldstein, director of the Election Protection program at the United Center for Democracy, told The Hill. “The administration has recently sought to expand the Postal Service beyond its traditional role to determine voter eligibility and oversee how mail-in voting is administered.”

The Postal Service has suffered major financial distress and operational difficulties. reported losses $1.3 billion In the first quarter of fiscal 2026. Critics have questioned whether the agency has the capacity to handle such a responsibility.

“This is none of USPS’s business. This is a significant departure from how elections have always operated and raises serious concerns about the administration’s overreach,” Goldstein said.

At a hearing Wednesday, before the ruling, Steiner reiterated that the Postal Service would comply with any court order regarding mail-in voting.

Trump’s executive order directs the Postal Service to issue a final rule by the end of July. The proposal is going through a 30-day public comment period that began earlier this month.

The Hill has reached out to the Postal Service for comment.

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