Overview
A whistleblower disclosure made public by Sen. Richard Blumenthal on Tuesday raises concerns that the S. Postal Service's new system for screening mail ballots could jeopardize mail voting relied upon by roughly one-third of voters. The system is part of implementing President Donald Trump's executive order that introduced new restrictions on mail ballots, and it has been temporarily halted by a federal judge.
The unnamed federal official, represented by Whistleblower Aid, alleges that the Postal Service has been scrambling to build the new online portal in just a few months—a process that would typically take a year or more—sometimes in defiance of court orders halting work. The goal was to have it operational for a planned September 1 launch date.
"The apparently sloppy and rushed manner in which the Federal Ballot Mail Portal and supporting IT systems are being built poses significant risk. Potentially millions of American voters may not receive their mail-in ballot this election cycle in a timely manner, or at all," wrote attorneys with Whistleblower Aid.
The zero-percent failure rule
According to the whistleblower, the agency has adopted a "zero percent failure" policy for barcode verification. If a scanner fails to verify the barcode on a single ballot in a batch submitted by state officials, the entire batch—which could contain as many as 10,000 ballots—will be rejected and sent back to the state for correction. During three layers of checks, a single apparent error could cause the whole batch to be discarded.
The whistleblower also said there has been "insufficient internal testing" of the new system, with less than a week of testing left before the planned launch.
Blumenthal told reporters: "The Postal Service has designed a system to disenfranchise millions of Americans."
Executive order and court battles
Trump's executive order, signed in March, directed S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the commissioner of the Social Security Administration to develop state citizenship lists, and required the Postal Service to send mail ballots only to voters on such lists. The White House has called the mail voting provisions "commonsense measures" necessary to combat fraud.
S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani in Boston initially barred implementation of the system, but the Supreme Court's conservative majority overruled her order, clearing the way for implementation. On Thursday night, Talwani issued a 14-day restraining order against implementation. The administration is appealing the ruling, and the matter may end up back before the Supreme Court.
The Postal Service released a final rule on Aug. 21 outlining implementation, saying it would only send mail ballots for states that received approval for envelope designs and submitted a voter list through the still-not-active online portal.
The whistleblower letter says the Postal Service began work on the portal on June 15 and stopped on June 25 after Talwani's initial order, then restarted on July 29 when the administration appealed. Talwani last week found the Postal Service violated her order but imposed no sanctions. On Monday, she refused to lift the restraining order but allowed the Postal Service to continue work on the portal.
Impact on voters
More than 29% of all voters in 2024 cast their ballots through the mail, according to data cited in the reports. A Brookings Institution report published in 2025 found that mail voting fraud occurred in about four cases out of every 10 million mail ballots cast.
Election officials have already warned the system could not be implemented before the first mail ballots begin going out Friday in North Carolina.
Blumenthal said he has "a very strong hope and some faith that our system of justice will strike down this unconstitutional and unconscionable rule," but would not advise voting by mail if it goes into effect.
The Postal Service did not comment on Monday night; the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.