Whistleblower says USPS system Trump ordered for mail ballots is flawed and untested
An anonymous federal official warned in a whistleblower complaint this week that the technical system the U.S.Postal Service built to involve itself in mail voting is flawed, untested and likely to cause major disruptions in this fall’s midterm elections if it is implemented.President Donald Trump signed an executive order in March that directed his administration to create federal lists of citizens and asked the Postal Service to transmit mail ballots to only those people.
A federal judge has blocked the order from going into effect amid ongoing litigation over its constitutionality; the whistleblower complaint highlights potential issues that could arise if the courts ultimately declare it lawful.The USPS typically is responsible only for transporting mail ballots between election officials and voters, and the federal government has never kept a central list of all American citizens.Trump ordered the agency to take on an unprecedented and complex role in the process this year in amid a broader attempt to exert greater control over the country’s elections and his continued unfounded claims of widespread voter fraud.
The technical system the USPS assembled to vet voters was developed in a “rushed, chaotic, and fundamentally flawed process,” according to a whistleblower complaint sent to the office of Sen.Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., a member of the Homeland Security and Governmental AffairsCommittee.
Blumenthal sent the complaint to Postmaster General David Steiner on Monday asking for more information.“This administration seems hell-bent on changing the framework of casting ballots in this country, clearly for political reasons,” Blumenthal said on a call with reporters Monday.“It is unconstitutional, as is argued in the courts by the litigation that is ongoing, but this disclosure indicates that it is also blatantly incompetent and incapable of actually delivering ballots that are lawful in this midterm election.”The whistleblower is identified...