USPS Whistleblower Warns New Mail Ballot System Could Disrupt November Elections
A US Postal Service whistleblower has warned that millions of Americans could be prevented from receiving mail ballots ahead of November's midterm elections because of a new system ordered by President Donald Trump and due for launch Tuesday. The anonymous federal official alleges that the agency has continued developing the system despite court orders blocking key parts of Trump's effort to impose new federal controls on voting by mail.
The disclosure, released Tuesday by Democratic US Senator Richard Blumenthal, describes the project as "secretive, rushed, chaotic, and fundamentally flawed" and warns that insufficient testing could lead to "catastrophic failure."
Under the proposed system, state election authorities would upload lists of mail voters and identifying barcodes to a new federal portal. Postal workers would then check samples from large batches of outgoing ballots against that information before accepting them for delivery.
The whistleblower alleges USPS has adopted a "zero-percent failure policy" under which an entire batch could be rejected if even one sampled barcode fails to scan or match the federal system. That could mean that one problematic ballot in a mailing of 10,000 prevents the other 9,999 from being sent until the discrepancy is resolved and the batch checked again.
"The apparently sloppy and rushed manner in which the federal ballot mail portal and supporting IT systems are being built poses significant risk," said the official, who is represented by the nonprofit Whistleblower Aid. "Potentially millions of American voters may not receive their mail-in ballot this election cycle in a timely manner, or at all," the person said.
The disclosure said the system was built under constantly changing requirements and received only a fraction of the testing normally required for a major information technology project.
USPS Response and Legal Context
USPS said it was reviewing the allegations but denied defying court orders, stating that work on the ballot portal had been lawful and that the portal will initially be offered only voluntarily to election officials. This response came after USPS had not responded to AFP's request for comment earlier.
Blumenthal accused the Postal Service of putting voting rights at risk and urged Postmaster General David Steiner to abandon the plan. He said the USPS designed the system to "disenfranchise millions," and noted about a third of American voters cast ballots by mail.
A federal judge in Massachusetts last week temporarily blocked key parts of the Postal Service plan, and the Trump administration is appealing. The first states prepare to send mail ballots this week.
Concerns from Election Experts
Stephen Richer of the libertarian Cato Institute, a former administrator for Maricopa County, expressed concern about disruption. He noted that the compressed timeline and technical issues could create significant challenges for voters.
The whistleblower said the system was built under constantly changing requirements and received only a fraction of the testing normally required. Development of the Federal Ballot Mail Portal began in June, with a target launch date of September 1.
A single barcode-scanning failure could cause an entire batch of up to 10,000 ballots to be rejected. Voters might not be notified if their ballots were rejected. Internal testing was reportedly allocated less than a week. The disclosure characterized preparations as "highly rushed."