Whistleblower Warns USPS Mail-Ballot System Could Reject Entire Batches

An anonymous federal employee filed a 20-page complaint with Sen. Richard Blumenthal’s office alleging that the Postal Service’s new “Federal Ballot Mail Portal” could reject an entire bulk mailing of 10,000 ballots if a single barcode fails to scan, returning the batch to the state.

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President Donald Trump issued an executive order in March directing the Postal Service to adopt new mail-ballot rules, including mandatory voter-list uploads and barcode-coded envelopes. Lawsuits from voting-rights groups and Democratic-led states led to a temporary restraining order (TRO) that freezes the rule while courts consider its legality. A federal judge in June blocked the rule as an unconstitutional intrusion on state election authority, and U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani (Mass.) imposed a TRO that remains in effect.

Democracy DocketDemocracy DocketUSPS whistleblower says rushed new mail ballot systems could disenfranchise voters New York Times

• March – Executive order on mail-ballot restrictions issued.

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• June – Federal judge blocks the rule as unconstitutional.

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• Late June – Judge Talwani issues a TRO halting enforcement.

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• Early July – Whistleblower’s complaint released publicly.

USPS whistleblower says rushed new mail ballot systems could disenfranchise voters

• Early September (scheduled) – Planned launch of the portal on September 1.

USPS whistleblower says rushed new mail ballot systems could disenfranchise voters

• A single barcode error could cause rejection of a batch of 10,000 ballots.

USPS whistleblower says rushed new mail ballot systems could disenfranchise voters

• The New York Times reported late-arrival rejections rose to 5,000 in Wisconsin’s spring primary and over 10,000 in Michigan’s recent primary.

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• The Department of Justice (DOJ) argues the TRO should be treated as an appealable preliminary injunction, saying the rule only sets “envelope-design and data-reporting standards.”

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• DOJ claims the government would suffer “irreparable harm” if the TRO remains, because appellate review would be too late for ballots mailed in the next two weeks.

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• A Postal Service spokesperson, who had not seen the complaint, declined to comment.

USPS whistleblower says rushed new mail ballot systems could disenfranchise voters

• David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research, called the report “highly specific and troubling,” noting the difficulty of disenfranchising voters over a “minor clerical error.”

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• “It is hard to imagine the USPS potentially disenfranchising all of those legal voters over a minor clerical error by postal workers or election officials,” — David Becker

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• “Taken together they present a clear picture of a fatally flawed process that cannot and will not protect American voters,” — Sen. Richard Blumenthal

USPS whistleblower says rushed new mail ballot systems could disenfranchise voters

• The whistleblower estimates “potentially millions” of voters could be affected but provides no precise figure.

USPS whistleblower says rushed new mail ballot systems could disenfranchise voters

• Independent data on actual rejection rates for the new portal are unavailable because the system has not been deployed; existing statistics pertain to current USPS performance.

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• Judge Talwani is expected to decide soon whether to issue a permanent ban on the rule for the election.

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• DOJ has asked the First Circuit Court of Appeals to treat the TRO as an appealable preliminary injunction, seeking to lift the block before ballots are mailed.

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• States such as North Carolina and Alabama have scheduled ballot mailings for early September, pending resolution of the legal challenges.

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