Postmaster General David Steiner announced Wednesday the U.S. Postal Service will not mlonger deliver Mail-in Ballots in states that refuse to provide sensitive voter data to the federal government.
This new edict is in line with a proposed rule from the Trump administration, The Hill reported.
Steiner spoke at a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing where he said it was to ensure that “the right ballots are going to the right people” after Senate Democrats aired concerns about the proposal.
“If a state refuses to turn their absentee voter list over to the federal government, will the Postal Service still mail their ballots under this proposal rule?” Sen. Gary Peters(D-Mich.), the committee’s top Democrat, asked Steiner.
“Under our proposed regulation, no,” Steiner answered.
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In March, President Donald Trump issued an executive order which directed the agency to propose a rule requiring states to provide a list to the Postal Service of eligible voters at least 60 days before any federal elections, in line with the president’s efforts to crackdown on possible mail-in voter fraud.
Democrats have pointed out the proposed rule shows Trump attempting to federalize elections.
They also have questioned whether the Postal Service has the authority to enforce the rule since administrating elections is the states’ responsibility.
Steiner said his agency does not have the authority to administer elections, but said the rule is a procedural precaution to ensure ballots are being sent to eligible voters only.
“I would think that states would want the information to ensure that the ballots that they think they’re sending out are the ballots that are actually getting sent out,” Steiner said.
He added the Postal Service would comply with
court orders governing voting by mail.
The measure was criticized by many Democrats.
Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) said the rule is Trump’s attempt to improperly insert the federal government into election administration and appealed to Steiner to stop it.
“Please push back on being a pawn in this authoritarian playbook,” she said to Steiner. “The Postal Service is one of the most important institutions in our country. Don’t taint it with the obsession of this one man.”