Postmaster General David Steiner confirmed this week that, if enacted, a new Trump Administration proposal would mean that the Postal Servicewould stop delivering mail-in ballots in states that refuse to share sensitive voter information with the federal government.
The proposed rule was released earlier in June, months after President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order that directed the Postal Service to propose rules that would implement restrictions on mail-in voting. Among a number of specific provisions the order directed be included in that rulemaking, it said that “USPS shall not transmit mail-in or absentee ballots from any individual unless those individuals have been enrolled on a State-specific list.”
In line with that order, the Postal Service’s proposed rule said that agency employees would verify the eligibility of mail-in ballots by checking them against lists of voters that states would share with the federal government. The proposal, though, said that Postal Service staffers “would not verify whether individuals should or should not be included on a State’s Mail-In and Absentee Participation List,” adding that “states will retain full control over the content of that list.”
At a Senate committee hearing on Wednesday, Steiner confirmed that the proposal would mean that the Postal Service wouldn’t deliver mail-in ballots if a state didn’t provide this list of voters who have requested absentee or mail-in ballots.
“If a state refuses to turn their absentee voter list over to the federal government, will the Postal Service still mail their ballots under this proposal?” Democratic Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan asked.
“Under our proposed regulation, no,” Steiner replied. “We would tell the state that we need the manifest.”
Peters called the proposed rule “unacceptable.”
“So the proposed rule basically coerces states to conform to these new requirements and hand over their absentee voter rolls, or face the consequences of not being able to vote by mail,” Peters said.
Steiner argued that the proposed rule would “make sure that we match the ballots that a state believes they’re sending out to what actually gets sent out.”
“All the state gives us is a list of here are the voters that are supposed to get ballots and here are the ballots. We then compare the two, make sure the ballots that are supposed to get sent, get sent,” Steiner said. “I would think that states would want the information to ensure that the ballots that they think they’re sending out are the ballots that are actually being sent out.”
But Democrats have expressed concerns about Trump’s Executive Order and the Postal Service’s proposed rule, claiming that both are signs of the President trying to exert federal authority over elections. Trump has, on many occasions, made false claims about election fraud that he professed occurred via voting by mail.
Read More: Trump Claims Mail-In Voting Is ‘Corrupt.’ But Research Indicates Fraud Is Very, Very Rare
Democrats continued to sound the alarm over the proposal during the Senate hearing on Wednesday.
“Please push back on being a pawn in this authoritarian playbook,” Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan told Steiner on Wednesday. “The Postal Service is one of the most important institutions in our country. Don’t taint it with the obsession of this one man. Please push back.”
The proposed rule is not currently in effect; it needs to go through a formal process, including a public comment period, before it can be enacted. The public is allowed to submit their thoughts on the proposed rule until July 2.
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