Trump's Attempted USPS Power Grab Over Mail-in Voting
Revealed plans show unprecedented federal interference in election logistics through postal service mandates.
1Executive overreach attempt
The Trump administration's March 2026 executive order sought to transform the USPS into an election enforcement arm, requiring special ballot envelopes and pre-approval of designs from nearly 10,000 voting jurisdictions. This would have created a federal bureaucracy for mail-in ballots under White House control, with the Postal Service forced to coordinate with DHS and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. The order demoted the postmaster general's role to simply implementing these directives.
2Certified mail requirement
Initial White House demands went further - requiring ballots be delivered as Certified Mail, necessitating in-person ID checks and signatures from recipients. This would have effectively created a national voter ID requirement through postal workers. The USPS convinced Trump this was logistically impossible, given 48 million mail-in votes in 2024. Certified mail costs $5.55 per item, with costs potentially pushed to local governments.
3Bulk rejection mechanism
Trump's order included a provision requiring entire batches of ballots to be returned if any single envelope contained errors. A former official noted this meant if just four addresses had issues in a million-ballot mailing, 999,996 valid ballots wouldn't be delivered. The USPS Board of Governors feared resisting these measures due to Trump's history of firing officials from independent agencies.
4Parallel voter purge efforts
While SCOTUS blocked the USPS order, it allowed another Trump initiative on September 25 - letting DHS use federal databases to search voter rolls for alleged non-citizens. Advocacy groups argue these systems contain numerous errors. Federal law prohibits systematic voter removals within 90 days of elections, but Republicans claim targeting 'non-citizens' constitutes individualized action.
5Election security pretext
The administration framed these measures as election security improvements despite no evidence of meaningful mail-in voter fraud. A PBS/NPR/Marist poll shows only Trump's base believes fraud claims, though 40% of both parties doubt election mail will arrive on time. The White House continued pushing measures guaranteed to cause confusion and delays as Election Day approached.
6USPS institutional pressure
Postal Service leadership faced unprecedented political pressure, with one source noting resistance might be their 'last action' given Trump's willingness to fire officials. The Supreme Court's recent expansion of presidential power over independent agencies added to these concerns. Instead of direct opposition, USPS leadership reportedly waited for judicial intervention.
7Legal strategy parallels
The administration's approach followed a pattern of using novel legal arguments to circumvent election protections. Alongside the USPS orders, they claimed targeting alleged non-citizens constituted 'individualized' action exempt from rules against systematic voter purges. This reflects broader efforts to exploit technicalities in election administration laws.
8Democratic process implications
These revelations highlight how election infrastructure became a battleground, with the Postal Service nearly weaponized for partisan advantage. The attempted transformation of a neutral mail delivery system into an election enforcement mechanism represents an unprecedented challenge to traditional separations between administration and politics in democratic processes.
Original article: Gizmodo — Trump's Attempted USPS Power Grab Over Mail-in Voting