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WASHINGTON, June 24 (Reuters) – The head of the U.S. Postal Service on Wednesday defended a plan demanded by President Donald Trump to require states to provide lists of voters who received mailed ballots.
U.S. Postmaster General David Steiner said at a U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing that, under the proposal, USPS would not deliver ballots in states where officials refuse to comply.
“The proposed rule basically coerces states to conform to these new requirements and hand over their absentee voter rolls, or face the consequences of not being able to vote by mail,” said Senator Gary Peters, the top Democrat on the committee. “That’s unacceptable.”
Steiner argued the plan would be more efficient and mirror what many states are currently doing. USPS is making sure “we match the ballots that a state believes they’re sending out to what actually gets sent out.”
The proposal would require states to provide the USPS the names and barcodes tied to their mail-in ballots for federal elections. It would also require states to provide unique barcodes applied to the outbound and return ballot mail envelopes, saying it “will help determine adherence to federal law and facilitate law enforcement efforts.”
The proposed regulation stems from Trump’s March executive order that aimed to severely restrict mail-in voting, which he has said is prone to fraud.
Trump’s order directs the Homeland Security Department to compile and transmit to states a list of confirmed U.S. citizens eligible to vote in each state, derived from citizenship and naturalization records and other federal databases.
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