Particle.news
Download on the App Store
7 ARTICLES
·
2h ago

Justice Department Narrows Claims About DHS Plan as Postal Service Proposes Requiring States’ Mail‑voter Lists

A Justice Department filing cites a DHS memo that frames any federal use of USPS voter data as preliminary and tied to a pending Postal Service rule, which could reshape mail voting if courts allow it.

Image
An election worker moves mail-in ballots to be organized for tabulation at the Los Angeles County Ballot Processing Center during California's state primary election in the City of Industry, California, on June 2.
A ballot box rests outside Contra Costa County's elections office on May 27, in Martinez, California.
US President Donald Trump signs an executive order cracking down on mail-in voting ahead of midterm elections in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on March 31.

Overview

  • DOJ lawyers revised court filings to say Homeland Security’s earlier descriptions of integrating USPS voter data and running a SAVE-based verification were preliminary and conditioned on USPS rulemaking.
  • The Postal Service’s new proposed rule would require states to give lists of voters set to receive mail ballots and could deny delivery for noncompliant states, creating a direct pressure point on state election officials.
  • A coalition of 23 Democratic-led states, the District of Columbia, and voting-rights groups have sued to block the executive order and the USPS rule, and litigation is ongoing with courts set to decide whether the policies can take effect before the November midterms.
  • Election officials, USPS unions, and voting groups warn the proposal raises practical and privacy problems, including unclear funding, technical burdens for data sharing, and the risk that using the SAVE system could produce false positives that wrongly flag lawful voters.
  • The dispute touches a constitutional fault line because states run elections, so courts will weigh whether the executive order and a USPS rule can lawfully force data transfers or effectively limit mail voting and ballot delivery.