Washington (United States), Sept. 1 (LaPresse) – The new computer system that the U.S. Postal Service is developing to implement President Donald Trump’s executive order on mail-in voting was reportedly created in a “rushed and sloppy” manner and could lead to the rejection of millions of ballots. This is the allegation made by an anonymous whistleblower in a report made public by Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal. According to the complaint, the Postal Service is trying to develop in just three months a system that would normally require at least a year of work, with insufficient testing and procedures that could result in entire batches of ballots being rejected even because of a single scanning error. The system is expected to be operational in time for the November midterm elections and allow states to send the Postal Service lists of voters authorized to receive mail-in ballots. The executive order signed by Trump in March provides for new checks on voters’ identity and citizenship and also imposes new requirements on envelopes containing ballots, including barcodes. The administration maintains that the measures are necessary to combat election fraud. According to the anonymous source, the so-called “zero-error” system could result in an entire batch of ballots being rejected, even if it consists of tens of thousands of valid votes, if a single error is detected. The implementation of the new procedures is at the center of complex litigation. A federal judge has temporarily blocked implementation of the system ahead of the November elections, while the Trump administration has appealed. The issue could once again come before the Supreme Court. Blumenthal accused the administration of wanting to “change the country’s voting system for clearly political reasons.” The White House, on the other hand, maintains that the new rules are common-sense measures to ensure the integrity of the vote. In 2024, more than 29% of U.S. voters voted by mail.
USA: Trump’s mail-in voting system, risk of chaos and millions of exclusions
Washington (United States), Sept. 1 (LaPresse) – The new computer system that the U.S. Postal Service is developing to implement President Donald Trump’s executive order on mail-in voting was reportedly created in a “rushed and sloppy” manner and could lead to the rejection of millions of ballots. This is the allegation made by an anonymous whistleblower in a report made public by Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal. According to the complaint, the Postal Service is trying to develop in just three months a system that would normally require at least a year of work, with insufficient testing and procedures that could result in entire batches of ballots being rejected even because of a single scanning error. The system is expected to be operational in time for the November midterm elections and allow states to send the Postal Service lists of voters authorized to receive mail-in ballots. The executive order signed by Trump in March provides for new checks on voters’ identity and citizenship and also imposes new requirements on envelopes containing ballots, including barcodes. The administration maintains that the measures are necessary to combat election fraud. According to the anonymous source, the so-called “zero-error” system could result in an entire batch of ballots being rejected, even if it consists of tens of thousands of valid votes, if a single error is detected. The implementation of the new procedures is at the center of complex litigation. A federal judge has temporarily blocked implementation of the system ahead of the November elections, while the Trump administration has appealed. The issue could once again come before the Supreme Court. Blumenthal accused the administration of wanting to “change the country’s voting system for clearly political reasons.” The White House, on the other hand, maintains that the new rules are common-sense measures to ensure the integrity of the vote. In 2024, more than 29% of U.S. voters voted by mail.