A federal whistleblower has issued a dire warning about the United States Postal Service's new online portal for screening mail-in ballots, alleging it is untested, flawed, and could lead to "catastrophic failure" before the November midterm elections. The report, shared by Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, outlines problems at every stage of the portal's development, which is intended to compare mail-in ballots against state-provided voter registration lists.
The Postal Service's rapid development of the portal comes amid President Donald Trump's push for increased federal oversight of voting processes, including tasking USPS with additional responsibilities for mail-in ballots sent to various states. A federal judge in Boston had previously placed a temporary block on a Trump executive order related to this matter, a decision the Justice Department is appealing.
The urgency surrounding the portal's implementation is heightened by the approaching election cycle, with states set to begin mailing ballots in the coming weeks. North Carolina is scheduled to start on September 4, followed by Alabama the next week. Critics argue that the rushed nature of the new USPS procedures, described as "haphazard" and "risky" in the whistleblower report, could inject chaos into the midterm results, especially considering the significant number of Americans who vote by mail.
Senator Blumenthal stated that approximately one-third of all American voters cast their ballots by mail, and expressed concern that the new USPS system puts these votes at risk. The report also highlights a USPS policy of "zero-percent failure" adopted alongside the portal, which could lead to a massive rejection of ballots without an avenue for appeal. According to the report, tens of thousands of ballots could be returned to states without clear resolution pathways, potentially invalidating them due to minor issues like barcode discrepancies or outdated voter registration information.
The whistleblower, described as a "federal official with direct knowledge of potentially catastrophic problems," communicated their concerns to Blumenthal's office through Whistleblower Aid. Blumenthal has called for answers and accountability, suggesting that the "sloppiness and haste" behind the system's development appears to be a deliberate attempt to disrupt the voting process and disenfranchise voters.
