Postmaster general says USPS would withhold mail ballots from states that refuse voter data
Postmaster General David Steiner told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on June 24 that, under a proposed Postal Service rule , USPS would not deliver mail-in or absentee ballots in states that refuse to provide their voter lists to the federal government. Asked directly whether the service would carry election mail from non-compliant states, Steiner answered, “Under our proposed regulation, no.”
The rule flows from a March executive order requiring USPS to transmit ballots only for voters enrolled on a state-specific participation list, effectively conditioning ballot delivery on states surrendering their voter rolls. The regulation is not final; its comment period closes July 2, and several Democratic-led states and advocacy groups are already in court over it. Steiner said the Postal Service would follow the rule until a court orders otherwise.
Tying ballot delivery to data the federal government wants from states is the mechanism’s core: it converts a routine postal function into leverage over how states run their own elections, an area the Constitution largely reserves to states and Congress. Democratic lawmakers and election-law groups called the plan illegal and warned it could disrupt mail voting in the midterms if it survives legal challenge.