By David Shepardson and Katharine Jackson
WASHINGTON, Sept 1 (Reuters) – A whistleblower told Congress that the U.S. Postal Service is moving forward with plans to restrict mail-in voting that could result in thousands of legitimate ballots being discarded.
Senator Richard Blumenthal asked U.S. Postmaster General David Steiner to answer questions and provide documents on the claims detailing “USPS’ seemingly illegal plot to interfere in November’s midterms. Their system is set up to fail – and risk the right to vote for millions of Americans who cast their ballots by mail.”
Blumenthal said USPS has also reportedly implemented an “impracticable zero percent failure rate that could result in a massive number of rejected ballots with no opportunity for appeal.”
USPS did not immediately comment.
Blumenthal raised a hypothetical example citing the whistleblower, saying if a state brought a batch of 10,000 ballots to the Postal Service and USPS is unable to match one ballot because “someone has recently changed their name after marriage or they’ve moved – then USPS would refuse to mail the remaining 9,999 ballots as well.”
President Donald Trump in March directed the Department of Homeland Security to transmit to states a list of U.S. citizens eligible to vote and the Justice Department to prioritize investigating and prosecuting state and local election officials who issue ballots to people deemed “not eligible.”
The order also required USPS to deliver ballots only to voters on each state’s approved mail-in ballot list.
The U.S. Supreme Court last week lifted a court order blocking the administration from implementing Trump’s executive order restricting the use of mail-in ballots. But the fate of the order remains uncertain, as a separate injunction blocking a key part of the plan is still in place.
Trump has vowed to end the use of mail-in ballots nationwide before the midterms, and has long cast doubt on the security of such ballots, although evidence of voter fraud is rare. Trump has voted by mail himself on multiple occasions.
Separately, DHS plans to step up its effort to investigate alleged voter fraud this week, CNN reported.
Starting Tuesday, an investigative unit within the department will begin a “coordinated criminal voter fraud surge initiative to pursue investigative leads, conduct field interviews, and support timely prosecutorial review,” CNN reported, citing department guidance.
DHS declined to comment on any active investigations but said it is “actively rooting out and investigating election fraud wherever it can be found.”
The effort kicks off as Republicans are locked in a battle to retain control of Congress in midterm elections in November.
(Reporting by Katharine Jackson and David Shepardson; Editing by Nick Zieminski and Hugh Lawson)
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