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BumRushDaShow

(173,481 posts)
Wed Jun 24, 2026, 01:51 PM 5 hrs ago

Postmaster general says USPS won't deliver mail ballots if states don't give Trump admin voter rolls

Source: Democracy Docket News

June 24, 2026


Postmaster General David Steiner told senators that, under a new proposed rule, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) will not deliver mail ballots unless states hand over their voter lists to the Trump administration. “Under our proposed regulation, no,” Steiner said during a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing Wednesday after being asked whether USPS would refuse to deliver election mail if states refuse to divulge their voter lists. “We would tell the state that we need the manifest,” Steiner added. Steiner’s alarming answer is yet more evidence that the Postal Service is following through with President Donald Trump’s sweeping attack on mail voting and breaking from its decades-long history as a neutral, nonpartisan carrier of U.S. election mail.

The USPS’s new proposal, which Postal workers have denounced, stems from Trump’s March 2026 executive order that, in part, demanded USPS only send mail ballots to voters on lists created and controlled by the federal government. Specifically, the proposal would require state election officials to send USPS a list of voters who have requested a mail-in or absentee ballot at least 30 days before ballots are sent out under state law. If voters aren’t on the list, they will not receive a ballot.

If implemented, it would effectively create a federal registration list for absentee voters. Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), the ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, told Steiner that the proposal would “coerce” states — particularly states like Oregon, where mail voting is the default form of voting — into providing the Trump administration with sensitive voter data. “This is basically a back-door way for the federal government to get voting information that states control under the U.S. Constitution,” Peters said.

“You’re telling the states, ‘Give the federal government this information — trust the federal government, trust the Trump administration, we’ll take good care of these — and if you don’t do it, you can’t mail absentee ballots.’” “You are going to make a decision that people cannot vote by mail,” the senator added. “That’s unacceptable.” Steiner’s admission Wednesday conflicted with a separate rule the USPS adopted under his watch last year, which stated that the independent agency “does not administer elections, establish the rules or deadlines that govern elections, or determine whether or how election jurisdictions utilize the mail.”

Read more: https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/postmaster-general-steiner-postal-service-will-not-deliver-mail-ballots-state-voter-rolls/

55 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Postmaster general says USPS won't deliver mail ballots if states don't give Trump admin voter rolls (Original Post) BumRushDaShow 5 hrs ago OP
can't the feds just read the name on the friggin envelope? uncle ray 5 hrs ago #1
That's not what they want. They want to know if it's a Democratic ballot or republican ballot oldmanlynn 4 hrs ago #12
I didn't know they had the power to decide that. dem4decades 5 hrs ago #2
They don't. The USPS is required to deliver the mail, not make decisions on what to deliver based on politics. patphil 5 hrs ago #5
Yup! Botany 4 hrs ago #11
Agree! THIS asshole should be removed pronto bluestarone 1 hr ago #48
BUT... it does give trump an opening to kill this slightlv 7 min ago #55
This proposal is completely unacceptable! Tr*** must be stopped. CaliforniaPeggy 5 hrs ago #3
So fucking scary. yellow dahlia 5 hrs ago #4
Depressed yankee87 4 hrs ago #6
This guy needs to be fired FakeNoose 4 hrs ago #7
He's obviously following orders that come directly from Trump. ShazzieB 4 hrs ago #17
He's a Federal official, it should be possible to impeach him. It's VERY hard to fire the PG ... eppur_se_muova 3 hrs ago #28
Clearly, every mail-in ballot is at risk Bobstandard 4 hrs ago #8
Yep: court steps in, shoots it down, Trumpsters appeal the ruling, and it goes up the ladder after a month or two 0rganism 4 hrs ago #13
just the statement is enough to end mail in voting MadameButterfly 3 hrs ago #27
Courts must step in NOW AverageOldGuy 4 hrs ago #9
They've already lost in nine different States to pull this shit. Mark Elias team is on it Bengus81 1 hr ago #52
Glad to see Democracy Docket is on this. intheflow 4 hrs ago #10
Easy peasy... after your primary, change your registration to R LiberalArkie 4 hrs ago #14
That won't work everywhere. ShazzieB 3 hrs ago #23
This sounds like the Postmaster general would be committing a felony Uncle Joe 4 hrs ago #15
Mail tampering Qutzupalotl 1 hr ago #45
Beyond the constitutional issues, this would create a mess. SamuelAdams 4 hrs ago #16
Let's just get past the verklempting and go straight to the lawsuits. Baitball Blogger 3 hrs ago #18
Hell. anymore even if the courts rule against the USPS, i feel they will bluestarone 3 hrs ago #19
How in the hell could this possibly be legal LilElf70 3 hrs ago #20
Per the Constitution, Bayard 3 hrs ago #25
Every Democratic candidate for office, high or low, must campaign on holding Trump appointees criminally flashman13 3 hrs ago #21
Another Lawsuit Trump will lose MissouriDem47 3 hrs ago #22
But is there time to do this and get a favorable ruling before Nov? n/t SpankMe 3 hrs ago #26
Can we please secede already????? IcyPeas 3 hrs ago #24
Oh cool when can they sue? SSJVegeta 3 hrs ago #29
Oregon voter here. I refuse to use USPS Hassler 2 hrs ago #30
This is how people need to think. bluestarone 1 hr ago #49
75% of eastern Oregon is Republican and rural Hassler 1 hr ago #50
Well that's ok. IF bluestarone 1 hr ago #51
hey federal gvt,, you do not have any control over state elections, period. its all state controlled., AllaN01Bear 2 hrs ago #31
Until there are deadly serious consequences liberalgunwilltravel 2 hrs ago #32
Lawyer up EnergizedLib 2 hrs ago #33
Fuck this new MAGA Postmaster, part of Trump's gestapo. Demnation 2 hrs ago #34
"a new proposed rule" Talitha 2 hrs ago #35
They actually submitted it to the Federal Register for public comments BumRushDaShow 2 hrs ago #39
An executive order is not a regulation! bob4460 2 hrs ago #36
The USPS submitted a draft Regulation to the Federal Register BumRushDaShow 2 hrs ago #40
This message was self-deleted by its author bob4460 2 hrs ago #37
Postmaster General: I will commit election interference for our Dear Leader! sakabatou 2 hrs ago #38
Has Postmaster general read the existing LAWs on the Fed and State levels ? dave99 2 hrs ago #41
Benjamin "A republic, if you can keep it" Franklin, first Postmaster General... Harker 2 hrs ago #42
Yup. Worked near his Post Office that is still here in Philly (originally his print shop) and operational BumRushDaShow 1 hr ago #47
That's called extortion, and is in violation of federal law. James48 2 hrs ago #43
Sounds like a cunning plan Turbineguy 1 hr ago #44
You know you live in a fascist hellhole when... Karasu 1 hr ago #46
Straight up extortion. yourout 1 hr ago #53
It used to be understood without saying, but: Marcuse 1 hr ago #54

oldmanlynn

(879 posts)
12. That's not what they want. They want to know if it's a Democratic ballot or republican ballot
Wed Jun 24, 2026, 02:37 PM
4 hrs ago

If it’s a Democratic voter ballot, they want to refuse that one get with the program. Donald Trump isn’t doing this to make things nice in the Postal Service. He’s trying to cheat the system.

patphil

(9,332 posts)
5. They don't. The USPS is required to deliver the mail, not make decisions on what to deliver based on politics.
Wed Jun 24, 2026, 02:10 PM
5 hrs ago

Once politics come into the process, the Postal Service could be instructed to intercept and give to the government any and all mail being sent or received by the government's "enemies".

Botany

(78,209 posts)
11. Yup!
Wed Jun 24, 2026, 02:35 PM
4 hrs ago

It is the job of the USPS to deliver the mail
not to interfere in elections.

2024 showed us when the likes of Musk, Thiel, Eaton Corp., Palintr, Digital Janitor,
Ballot Proof, the Federalist Society, Republicans, and GOP Secs. of State, get ahold of voter d-bases the outcome is a done deal. Because they then know what
#s they need to happen.

slightlv

(8,189 posts)
55. BUT... it does give trump an opening to kill this
Wed Jun 24, 2026, 07:07 PM
7 min ago

constitutionally mandated service, like he's wanted from the very beginning. Leaving us to corporate "good will" to deliver the mail fairly and neutrally... and (more or less) free.

yellow dahlia

(6,871 posts)
4. So fucking scary.
Wed Jun 24, 2026, 02:03 PM
5 hrs ago

BUT!

Did today's order by a judge that says the grifter can't issue an executive order re: elections, citing Separation of Powers, apply to mail-in ballots also? I just caught wind of the judge's order being discussed on MSNOW. I heard it applies to an order requiring proof of citizenship.

yankee87

(2,888 posts)
6. Depressed
Wed Jun 24, 2026, 02:16 PM
4 hrs ago

I realize what is going on may or may not come through, but we always fight from behind.
If we ever get control again, non stop investigations and the toughest penalties available.

FakeNoose

(42,985 posts)
7. This guy needs to be fired
Wed Jun 24, 2026, 02:20 PM
4 hrs ago

He cannot pick and choose which mail he wants to deliver.
FUCK HIM and the horse he rode in on.

ShazzieB

(23,069 posts)
17. He's obviously following orders that come directly from Trump.
Wed Jun 24, 2026, 03:12 PM
4 hrs ago

Unfortunately.

What I want to know is, have law suits (or A lawsuit with multiple plaintiffs) been filed yet?

eppur_se_muova

(42,903 posts)
28. He's a Federal official, it should be possible to impeach him. It's VERY hard to fire the PG ...
Wed Jun 24, 2026, 04:02 PM
3 hrs ago

Republicans rigged it so a Dem POTUS can't easily fire their boy. That has to be done by a board, and the board is packed with their people. One of the mistakes Biden made was not flushing DeJoy fast enough, and appointing his own people to the Board of Governors. But I think GOPers may have blocked his nominations, too.

Bobstandard

(2,430 posts)
8. Clearly, every mail-in ballot is at risk
Wed Jun 24, 2026, 02:26 PM
4 hrs ago

Even if a court decrees the mail must go through, the Postmaster’s stance gives MAGA postal employees the green light to slow or refuse to deliver mail in ballots, either going to or coming from the voter. At the very least, trust in the Post Office is so questionable that many will decide not to mail and may then be unable to vote in person—which is being made more and more difficult in many Democratic leaning regions.

0rganism

(25,763 posts)
13. Yep: court steps in, shoots it down, Trumpsters appeal the ruling, and it goes up the ladder after a month or two
Wed Jun 24, 2026, 02:42 PM
4 hrs ago

Then at the next step, if the appellate court waxes it too, the ruling gets appealed again. and so it slowly winds its way up the layers of the court system. At every higher layer, the odds of one or more Trump appointees making the decision increases, all the way up to the SCOTUS, who will take the case in some expedited fashion to give F47 the nod. "All okay," they'll say. By then, it will be late September.

And even if the appeals stall out somehow, there's no guarantee the USPS does what it's required to do anyway. So much of our planning has taken a benevolent (or at least neutral) federal government as premise. We were never prepared to deal with an outright criminal administration.

Those of us living in VBM states, well, we'd best get to figuring out how we're gonna vote in the upside-down.

MadameButterfly

(4,283 posts)
27. just the statement is enough to end mail in voting
Wed Jun 24, 2026, 03:59 PM
3 hrs ago

Who would trust it? It could also end the postal system. Why would you trust that either? It's an arm of Trump now.

Bengus81

(10,569 posts)
52. They've already lost in nine different States to pull this shit. Mark Elias team is on it
Wed Jun 24, 2026, 05:57 PM
1 hr ago

This BULLSHIT can not stand..........

intheflow

(30,304 posts)
10. Glad to see Democracy Docket is on this.
Wed Jun 24, 2026, 02:34 PM
4 hrs ago

Elias has an excellent record against the regime. I don't see this claim standing.

ShazzieB

(23,069 posts)
23. That won't work everywhere.
Wed Jun 24, 2026, 03:34 PM
3 hrs ago

In some states, voter registration doesn't include declaring a party affiliation. That is the case in Illinois, where I live. I know we're not the only state that does this.

In states that don't register voters by party affiliation, postal workers would have to open every sealed envelope to find out who's voting which way.

Uncle Joe

(65,991 posts)
15. This sounds like the Postmaster general would be committing a felony
Wed Jun 24, 2026, 03:01 PM
4 hrs ago

Thanks for the thread BumRushDaShow

SamuelAdams

(342 posts)
16. Beyond the constitutional issues, this would create a mess.
Wed Jun 24, 2026, 03:07 PM
4 hrs ago

Each state has their own deadline for requesting mail ballots. Now states would have to move deadlines 30 days to accommodate the federal government. Is there software that can quickly send the voter list of each area to each mail carrier? There must be hundreds of thousands mail carriers who would each need a lost for their small area. There are tens of millions Americans who vote by mail. That could take awhile and have massive mistakes.

bluestarone

(22,544 posts)
19. Hell. anymore even if the courts rule against the USPS, i feel they will
Wed Jun 24, 2026, 03:26 PM
3 hrs ago

DO what they say they will do. We thought Dejoy would be the problem? Hell TSFD owns ALL the crooked bastards in our country!! Be ready nto fight, if we want Democracy. They are willing to destroy us. THIS is so fucked up.

LilElf70

(1,706 posts)
20. How in the hell could this possibly be legal
Wed Jun 24, 2026, 03:28 PM
3 hrs ago

Not that it really matter to Trump.

WTF is going on to our country?

Bayard

(30,645 posts)
25. Per the Constitution,
Wed Jun 24, 2026, 03:46 PM
3 hrs ago

States control elections. trump has no business sticking his dirty nose in them in any way, shape, or form. He is determined to use every trick in the book to remain in power. Things are going to be out of control corrupt.

He is afraid of us.....

flashman13

(2,631 posts)
21. Every Democratic candidate for office, high or low, must campaign on holding Trump appointees criminally
Wed Jun 24, 2026, 03:30 PM
3 hrs ago

liable for their actions on behalf of Trump's criminal enterprise. It must be made clear to Steiner that he will be held responsible for actions that encumber states ability to conduct elections as they see fit.

Hassler

(4,986 posts)
30. Oregon voter here. I refuse to use USPS
Wed Jun 24, 2026, 04:25 PM
2 hrs ago

to mail in my ballot as long as Swamp Creature is in WH. Strictly County Dropbox.

AllaN01Bear

(30,101 posts)
31. hey federal gvt,, you do not have any control over state elections, period. its all state controlled.,
Wed Jun 24, 2026, 04:26 PM
2 hrs ago

liberalgunwilltravel

(1,307 posts)
32. Until there are deadly serious consequences
Wed Jun 24, 2026, 04:28 PM
2 hrs ago

This shit will continue. It’s getting close to the time to see just how many martyrs are willing to sacrifice themselves to suck up to Trump and his fascists. I suspect not many.

Talitha

(8,218 posts)
35. "a new proposed rule"
Wed Jun 24, 2026, 04:53 PM
2 hrs ago

Hmmm.... a concept of an idea of a rule.
Pound sand, Postmaster General David Steiner.

BumRushDaShow

(173,481 posts)
39. They actually submitted it to the Federal Register for public comments
Wed Jun 24, 2026, 05:07 PM
2 hrs ago

Didn't get chance to hunt it down and include in the OP comments.

Here it is -

Ballot Mail for Federal Elections

Response to BumRushDaShow (Original post)

dave99

(538 posts)
41. Has Postmaster general read the existing LAWs on the Fed and State levels ?
Wed Jun 24, 2026, 05:10 PM
2 hrs ago

Hope he enjoys orange

Harker

(18,323 posts)
42. Benjamin "A republic, if you can keep it" Franklin, first Postmaster General...
Wed Jun 24, 2026, 05:13 PM
2 hrs ago

would be aghast.

BumRushDaShow

(173,481 posts)
47. Yup. Worked near his Post Office that is still here in Philly (originally his print shop) and operational
Wed Jun 24, 2026, 05:41 PM
1 hr ago

and would buy stamps there (they stocked most of the commemorative ones too).






Only Post Office without a U.S. flag out front.

Turbineguy

(40,285 posts)
44. Sounds like a cunning plan
Wed Jun 24, 2026, 05:19 PM
1 hr ago

to have the Democrats get rid of the Post Office, saving the republicans the trouble.

Marcuse

(9,143 posts)
54. It used to be understood without saying, but:
Wed Jun 24, 2026, 06:12 PM
1 hr ago

"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night nor fascist dictators trying to rig elections shall stay these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds. “

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