Ahead of the May 2024 primary election, there is a drop box for absentee ballots outside the Shelby County Courthouse in Shelbyville, Kentucky. (Photo: McKenna Horsley/Kentucky Lantern)
The U.S. Postal Service will not deliver absentee ballots in states that refuse to turn over voter rolls under proposed rules, the agency’s director said Wednesday, angering Democrats who warn the decision will disenfranchise voters.
Postmaster General David Steiner defended principle at a Senate hearing and dismissed accusations that the Postal Service acted politically after President Donald Trump signed an executive order in March limiting mail-in voting.
“If a state refuses to turn over its absentee voter list to the federal government, will the Postal Service still mail their ballots under the proposed rule?” Sen. Gary Peters, a Democrat from Michigan, asked Steiner.
“According to our proposed regulation, no,” Steiner replied.
Steiner’s testimony before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee was the clearest confirmation by a federal official that the rule threatens opt out of voting by post throughout the country.
If the rule goes into effect and Democratic-led states refuse to comply, the requirements will effectively limit mail-in voting to Republican-led states during November’s midterm elections, which will decide control of Congress.
Poczta Polska submitted an application principle After Trump ordered Steiner required states to send the agency lists of expected mail-in voters as a condition of delivering ballots.
Trump cancels the signing ceremony
The executive order is one of several steps the Trump administration has taken this year to influence how elections are conducted, with the Justice Department suing states to obtain sensitive voter data.
As Steiner addressed the president Wednesday morning, he emphasized the depth of Trump’s concern suddenly canceled ceremony at the U.S. Capitol to sign a bipartisan housing bill due to the Senate’s refusal to pass the SAVE America Act. The legislation would require voters to show documents, such as a birth certificate or passport, proving their citizenship.
“Now we have a new rule that you put in place that says states have to turn in their mail-in ballots and you, the U.S. Postal Service, will decide who gets approved to mail in a ballot,” said Sen. Elissa Slotkin, a Democrat from Michigan. “It’s just another backdoor way of trying to influence this election.”
Slotkin said Trump’s decision to cancel the signing of the housing bill showed “the level of obsession this president has” with the election.
Misspelling names
Each state would have to provide the names of residents who will vote by mail. Additionally, eight states and Washington, D.C., conduct elections by mailing ballots to all voters, which means election officials would have to provide information about each voter. These states include California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Vermont and Washington.
Trump and his aides argue that the restrictions are needed to prevent foreigners from voting, which rarely happens. Democrats and voting rights groups filed a lawsuit over the order, arguing it was an unconstitutional assertion of the president’s authority in state elections. No judge has stopped it yet.
Steiner sought to move beyond the controversy and, in response to a question, said the Postal Service would comply with a court order blocking the rule, if one is issued. Asked about the legal basis behind the rule, he said he would “have to defer that to the courts to understand that authority.”
Steiner, who became postmaster general in July 2025, described the rule as focusing primarily on best practices for election mail, a description that understates the scope of the proposal, which postal experts consider unprecedented.
“I am not a political person and the post office is not a political organization,” Steiner said.
Democrats call on Steiner to withdraw from his government
Democrats expressed fierce opposition to Steiner and accused him of caving in to Trump’s efforts to exert more control over the election. Steiner answers to the USPS Board of Governors, not the president, as his critics claim he is threatening agency independence through compliance with executive order.
Every Democrat in the Senate, as well as two independents who are debating with the party, signed on Tuesday letter to Steiner insisting that he withdraw this provision. The letter warns that in addition to the provision’s legal and constitutional problems, state and local election officials have no way to comply with its requirements.
“The proposed regulation requires the Postal Service to establish an entirely new system and database to process and transmit millions of absentee ballots that would be secure and accessible to every U.S. election official several months before the general election,” the letter says.
During Wednesday’s hearing, Republican senators mostly bypassed the principle of mail-in voting, focusing on the official topic, the Postal Service’s finances. But Sen. Bernie Moreno, an Ohio Republican, accused Democrats of hypocrisy over their past support for the For the People Act.
The sweeping bill, proposed when Democrats last controlled Congress, would require states to provide same-day voter registration and expand absentee voting. Opponents claimed it would nationalize elections.
“Three years later, they’re all testifying, ‘This is outrageous, President Trump is trying to nationalize the election.’ No, he’s not, he’s trying to get rid of voter fraud,” Moreno said, adding that Democrats have “now dug out the Constitution from the bottom drawer of the desk.”
– Should we get back to postal matters now? Moreno said.
“Absolutely,” Steiner replied.
