An anonymous federal official warned in a whistleblower complaint that a technical system the Postal Service built for mail voting is flawed and, if implemented, likely to disrupt the fall midterms.
A whistleblower is warning that the U.S. Postal Service could derail the midterm election with its plan to follow an order by President Trump. That order is attempting to restrict mail-in voting, and for now, a court ruling is blocking key parts of the Postal Service plan. NPR's Hansi Lo Wang joins us now to explain what this all means for voters. Good morning, Hansi.
HANSI LO WANG, BYLINE: Good morning, Leila.
FADEL: OK, so we have this whistleblower report about what the Postal Service is doing. Who is this person and what are their concerns?
WANG: This is an anonymous federal government official who filed a report with a nonprofit called Whistleblower Aid, and the concern is that the Postal Service has been preparing to roll out a new online system for collecting names of mail-in voters from city election officials as required by Trump's order. And I should note, USPS is a financial supporter of NPR. And what this report says is that that system is not ready, and if the courts allow USPS to require states to use it, there may be a lot of eligible mail-in voters who will not get their ballots in time for the midterms or at all.
FADEL: OK, that's a lot of – at stake for voters. What could stop ballots from getting delivered?
WANG: Well, part of the Postal Service's plan is to check the ballot envelope states want to send out for the midterms, and the voters' names that have to match with – voters' names on the envelopes have to match with what is in that portal. And the whistleblower report claims that portal system has not been properly tested and that USPS has set up an unusually strict policy for checking envelopes.
Basically, there could be major delays in getting out ballots if there's any discrepancy between what's on the envelopes and the mail-in voter list states submit through the portal. And USPS says in a statement they are carefully reviewing the concerns raised in this whistleblower report. It was submitted to USPS by Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, and here's what the Senator told Here & Now.
RICHARD BLUMENTHAL: This system seems designed to fail, which is consistent with the president's dislike of mail-in balloting, but it is also illegal, unconstitutional and unconscionable.
FADEL: I mean, this is coming up, Hansi, with Election Day about two months away, so absentee ballots have to go out soon, right?
WANG: Yes. In fact, North Carolina has to start mailing out its mail ballots this Friday. But there's still a lot of uncertainty because the legal fight over the USPS plan for Trump's order is still playing out.
You know, for now, like you said, key parts of the plan are still blocked, and that ruling has been appealed and the Supreme Court will likely have to weigh in on the order's legality. You know, Trump said he issued these directives for USPS to stop illegal voting by non-U.S. citizens, which many studies and audits have found to be extremely rare, but a federal judge in Boston has ruled the Postal Service's plan is likely illegal because USPS has no authority to control voting by mail.
FADEL: OK. A lot to keep track of in the courts. So what should voters take away from all this?
WANG: You know, it's a very uncertain time, especially for parts of the country who – that vote by mail only, and many election officials are trying to come up with backup plans. But for most of the country, the thing to keep in mind – right? – is, right now, mail-in voting is still a viable option, just as it was when President Trump voted by mail in Florida earlier this year, and right now, USPS is expected to deliver ballots as usual for the midterms. A new court ruling could change that, but we don't know when that could come, so we'll keep watching.
FADEL: That is NPR's Hansi Lo Wang. Hansi, thank you.
