A whistleblower has revealed that the U.S. Postal Service is moving to implement elements of an executive order from President Donald Trump that could “derail the midterm elections” this fall.
The disclosure was sent to the office of Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, and was revealed in a letter he sent to Postmaster General David Steiner, a Trump appointee.
The whistleblower explained that the administration has been hurriedly putting in place an online system to purportedly screen ballots, which they say could lead to “catastrophic failure.”
Of particular concern is the extreme sensitivity to purported errors built into the system. For instance, the complaint notes that if even one ballot out of a batch of 10,000 sent has an improperly scanned barcode, every single ballot in the batch would be sent back to the state—leaving thousands without a ballot to vote in the election.
Blumenthal’s office also relays that the whistleblower contends that the rollout of the online system has been “sloppy” and “rushed,” and that “millions” may not receive their ballots in time to vote this year.
Blumenthal also notes that much of the work on the system should not have occurred. Between June and August, the executive order was held back by federal court rulings that said it couldn’t be implemented. It wasn’t until the conservative majority on the Supreme Court gave the order the green light on Aug. 24 that many of these changes could have been made. However, on Aug. 27, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order on USPS’s implementation of the order, setting up yet another Supreme Court battle.
In his letter, Blumenthal demands details on what has been implemented so far. He is also seeking access to records showing changes made to the mail system regarding how ballots are being processed.
The manipulation of the nation’s mail system is just one way in which Trump and other Republicans have tried to rig the outcome of the election.
In multiple states, the party has tried to get away with gerrymandering congressional districts to lock in Republican majorities and power. Democrats have fought against this process through legal challenges and in some instance, redrawing maps to counteract the GOP offense.
Based on Trump’s failures with the economy, the Iran War, and a host of issues, signs have continually pointed to a likely election disaster for Republicans in the midterms. If left to the voters, Republicans are on the verge of losing congressional majorities leading to increased oversight of Trump corruption and incompetence. Rigging the vote is one of the few paths forward the party has to holding on to its power.
A poll worker sorts vote-by-mail ballots. (photo: Getty Images)
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