Whistleblower Raises Alarm Over USPS Ballot System Ahead of Midterms

A whistleblower from the U.S. Postal Service has issued a stark warning about a new ballot-processing system set to launch on Tuesday, which they claim could hinder millions of Americans from receiving their mail-in ballots before the midterm elections in November.

The anonymous source, whose concerns were made public by Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, describes the initiative ordered by President Donald Trump as "rushed" and "chaotic," raising fears of a potential "catastrophic failure" due to inadequate testing.

The proposed system requires state election officials to upload lists of mail voters along with their identifying barcodes to a new federal portal. Postal workers would then compare samples from outgoing ballot batches against this information. However, the whistleblower alleges that a "zero-percent failure policy" could lead to entire batches being rejected over a single problematic ballot, jeopardizing timely delivery for potentially thousands of voters.

According to the whistleblower, the system has been constructed under shifting requirements and has undergone only minimal testing, raising significant concerns about its reliability. The USPS has stated that it is reviewing the allegations but denies violating any court orders, asserting that its operations remain lawful.

Senator Blumenthal has expressed grave concerns about the implications of these developments, urging Postmaster General David Steiner to reconsider the plan. He emphasized that the system lacks the necessary capabilities to safeguard voters' rights and warned that it could disenfranchise millions, especially considering that about one-third of American voters utilize mail-in ballots.

This controversy comes amid a broader legal battle regarding mail voting regulations, with a federal judge recently blocking certain elements of the USPS plan while permitting the development of the online portal for states opting to use it voluntarily.

Source: www.france24.com