r/politics • u/One-Emu-1103 • 7h ago
Possible Paywall USPS whistleblower describes new plans for voting by mail hidden from the public
https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/01/politics/usps-whistleblower-mail-ballot-rules-trump•
u/sarcastic_patriot 7h ago
I've been saying for months now that they are so comfortable putting their election schemes out in the public because there's is so much more worse things going on behind the scenes. No matter what happens come November, I think it'll be the tipping point for Trump's presidency and this country. Nobody is holding anyone accountable, so with two years left Trump is going to ramp it up and finish big.
•
u/ChaplnGrillSgt 6h ago
They've suspended thousands of voter registrations in Texas. Conveniently right around the same time polls came out show Tallarico leading.
The corruption is so obvious.
•
u/coaldust Texas 3h ago
Not just thousands. 1.2 million. And this is not the first time they've done this. They seem to do it every single damn year here.
•
u/ChaplnGrillSgt 3h ago
Idk how you live there. I'm in a blue stronghold and it's literally the only thing keeping me sane
•
u/Quiet325 7h ago
The country is falling apart, and most (60%+) blame Trump.
I see a lot of doomerism, but I’m actually optimistic. Americans are docile until they’re not, and I think an election scheme amidst a losing war, inflation, stagnant job market, etc, spells disaster for the regime.
•
u/xv_boney 5h ago
Trump was outed as a child rapist and then his personal attorney who promised not to prosecute anyone in the epstein files was confirmed as head of the doj to a lot of ... nothing happened.
Ron Desantis stole ten million from a settlement that was meant to supply children with medical care and nothing happened. He gave every person who assisted in the theft a major promotion. I dont even see any articles about it. He blamed it on wokeness and that was the end. Nobody cares.
Mitch Mcconnell has been dead for almost three months and he is still a sitting senator. Kentucky has no representation. The gop still holds the senate counting mcconnell, a man who is dead. No action taken. Lots of talking. No action.
There are nearly five thousand data centers in this country with thousands more planned. Nobody wants them. Everyone votes against them. Every single municipality ignores their residents and approves them eagerly.
I do not know why youd be optimistic.
•
u/xenoixs 4h ago
What you mentioned is just a small tip of the iceberg. In every other timeline it would be a disaster for a government but on this timeline, its just Tuesdays news.
•
u/xv_boney 4h ago
What bothers me is that its purposeful. They are deliberstely flooding the field with so many scandals none of them stick around in the public consciousness long enough to be remembered.
Its been months since the last time the media reported on the fact that the president appears to have raped children.
How is that even a sentence.
•
u/poop-money 2h ago
Steve Bannon's "Flood the zone with shit" strategy on full display this round. And it's working which is depressing.
•
u/Krafty__Karl 2h ago
I like that he literally described it as “if you’re constantly getting shot you can’t stop to think about the last time you were shot”
→ More replies (1)•
u/DesecratedPeanut 1h ago
Its not even making the news, journalism died in the US this year and so many of you don't grasp how that means it's the end. Revolution or even just voter kick back is now impossible, especially with the government itself doing all it can to end democratic elections (turns out its pretty easy to end those in a country that never really had fair elections anyway).
•
•
u/BoisterousBard Minnesota 2h ago
If anyone needs a detailed account of this lunacy, please see r/Keep_Track and support if you are able, anyway.
•
u/Pure_Werewolf0101 4h ago
Mitch Mcconnell has been dead for almost three months
How has there not been a leak from that hospital in all this time? Or even from his staff?
•
u/197gpmol Massachusetts 3h ago
Personally I think McConnell is alive but vegetative. That would permit this strange limbo where he still lives and thus still legally holds his seat whereas a death certificate, burial plans, etc would leak.
This sub often forgets that conspiracies require absolute secrecy and people are dogshit at keeping secrets.
•
→ More replies (1)•
u/Double-Wear5980 3h ago
He didn't go to the hospital and his staff collect six figures salaries as long as they can pretend he's dead.
•
u/Intelligent_Bat_950 3h ago
What do you expect to happen before the midterms? No one is just going to grow a spine.
→ More replies (8)•
u/thedidact498 3h ago
I personally kind of figured we were screwed when Uvalde happened and not a thing was changed as a result. If dead children, dead in the worst way possible, don’t elicit change in a country then nothing will. Americans are nothing but docile little lap dogs that like to bark real loud every now and then but have absolutely no bite.
→ More replies (1)•
u/Tabais123 6h ago
Americans are still very much in denial about how bad it is. A large portion don’t follow politics day to day and just can’t imagine someone doing what Trump is doing. So to them it’s not real.
→ More replies (13)•
u/725Cali 3h ago
My husband's boss had a get together at his massive house. I was talking with a small group of female coworkers who brought up their concerns over women's access to healthcare under this administration. The boss was nearby and heard just a bit of it and tried to stop us from talking about it saying, "No political discussions." "Politics" affects all of our everyday lives. And the fact that so many people (at least in my experience) keep saying that they "don't do politics" is part of why we're in this mess in the first place.
•
u/CharmedConflict Colorado 7h ago
There are a lot of good, resilient people here. Personally, I think the country is dead man walking. But that doesn't mean that those good resilient people won't rise up out of the ashes to build something new and good that will initialize a state of healing. But it won't be without a whole lot of transitive heartache.
•
u/ShaggysGTI Virginia 6h ago
I refuse to break bread with someone that’s been so openly hateful. I will never find a middle ground on account of their lack of morality and empathy.
•
u/WhenTheLightHits30 5h ago
Nobody is asking you to break bread with a Nazi, but you gotta be willing to contribute to a better society by participating in that society or you are just dead weight in the way of people actually trying to make a better place.
•
u/CpnStumpy Colorado 5h ago
All of the endless memes about how we need to join hands and fight the oligarchy instead of each other are absolutely asking us to do just that.
It's a nice sentiment but it's terribly unsafe. The way the working class Nazis and Oligarchs are working it, we're all playing rock paper scissors and rock and scissors joined teams.
→ More replies (7)•
u/space_age_stuff Tennessee 4h ago
Exactly, that’s the core issue. People keep saying, “left or right, we need to join together and fight the rich.” Which is something all left-wing people agree with, and all right-wing people disagree with (they say they don’t but look at all the billionaires lining up with Republican politicians; they aren’t introspective enough to realize they’re being fooled)
•
u/altogethernow 3h ago
"Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat, but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires"
→ More replies (1)•
u/Tasty-Mulberry8073 5h ago
What if I don't want to make society better for Nazis?
→ More replies (1)•
→ More replies (41)•
•
u/Gwen_The_Destroyer New York 6h ago
The United States as we know them are dead. One cannot put toothpaste back into the tube.
However, we could still do what France is famous for and just....make a new democracy. They're on their 5th. It's very possible.
It's either that, or we Balkanize.
•
u/jizzmaster-zer0 4h ago
wouldnt balkanization just end up in non stop war? oh shit, louisiana is openly enslaving people, now we gotta go stop that shit… oh no, california has made religion illegal, here comes texas to liberate the oppressed christians.
→ More replies (1)•
u/MagicWishMonkey 2h ago
It's not like a big majority of people in Texas are Republican, Trump only got 56% of the vote, and a lot of those people are only theoretically in favor of republican policies because they aren't directly harmed by them, which would not be the case if Republicans were given 100% control of a state without federal oversight/restrictions.
I think you would see a whole lot of states start to have civil wars internally, it would be really really bad.
→ More replies (2)•
u/CpnStumpy Colorado 5h ago
Honestly, I'm not convinced balkanization is the wrong path at this point. We need a unified military and trade framework, but aside from that the separate regions of our country are so vastly culturally different I cannot see how we keep our noses in each other's business without trampling on those distinct cultures.
We're constantly fooled by our shared language and history into thinking we're way more homogeneous than we are. The cultural difference between people from Mobile AL and Portland OR are massive
•
u/justadudeinohio 4h ago
im sorry but no. this is the confederacy all over again. they need to be dragged kicking and screaming into the twenty first century. they have no redeeming qualities that are worth keeping around.
•
u/CpnStumpy Colorado 4h ago
The thing is, the Confederacy never was dragged kicking and screaming. They were allowed to continue disenfranchising, lynching, and indenturing people to their whims.
You think somehow that's going to change? Now that there's factors more of them than during the civil war?
•
u/justadudeinohio 4h ago
that's like saying we should just roll over for russia because there's so many of them too.
→ More replies (4)•
u/PumpBuck Ohio 5h ago
Unfortunately people from bumfuck Minnesota, bumfuck Idaho, and bumfuck Alabama have more in common with each other than they do with people in Minneapolis, Boise, and Birmingham, and vice versa
•
u/campelm 4h ago
It really is an urban versus rural situation. Went to college in Springfield MO, and the city was pretty normal but step one foot out of city limits and it's like a banjo plays and you're whisked away to BFE. I delivered pizzas and it got scary fast.
•
u/poptartheart 3h ago
hey springfield person!
glad you survived
i grew up there and you nailed it.
leave the city in any direction for 30-40 min and youre OUT there. and then make your way to arkansas where the actual South begins and its spooky as hell down thereits still 1950 in those towns
→ More replies (1)•
u/Sea_Statistician_312 4h ago
Have to agree, even in Tiny Delaware above the canal and below the canal are night and day how we live and politically.
→ More replies (4)•
u/Gwen_The_Destroyer New York 5h ago
Unfortunately, that's also where I see this going too. The differences are way too big. The ideal situation I see given those circumstances is that, after the inevitable balkanization, those 5-10 regions end up with something resembling the EU. Realistically, it'll be two different rough unions based on those regions that believe people are equal, and those who believe some people are more equal than others.
Those are the lines being drawn, and those are the lines that will divide what comes after. But I'm just some broad from NY so who tf really knows right?
•
u/SeveralPhysics9362 4h ago
You’re probably right. I fear the union of the red states will want to wage war after some time with the blue states. Because their economy is bad and they will need a scapegoat to blame for everything going wrong with them.
→ More replies (1)•
u/mreman1220 4h ago
It's going to be painful but I don't think there is any question this maga movement is dead and no one is going to be able to pick up the pieces. Numerous maga types and Trump endorsed candidates lost primaries. Trump even endorsed a few non maga candidates. I think some Republicans see the writing on the wall. Here in Michigan Mike Rodgers is trying to pitch a bipartisan campaign because I think he knows the hard line maga rhetoric won't work. Perry Cox tried to do the hard line maga "I'm a Trump clone" approach in his primary battle against James and didn't even get Trump's endorsement.
The transition is going to be very difficult. Trump has put us in an absolutely terrible position for the next decade or so geopolitically and in world trade. I'm hoping the pain starts sooner rather than later so that the Trump administration has to absorb some of it.
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (5)•
•
u/CommanderHavond 7h ago
'They're a wonderful, friendly people as long as their bellies are full and their holosuites are working. But take away their creature comforts, deprive them of food, sleep, sonic showers, put their lives in jeopardy over an extended period of time, and those same friendly, intelligent, wonderful people will become as nasty and as violent as the most bloodthirsty Klingon.'
•
u/eowyn_ Washington 6h ago
This is the root beer scene, right?
•
u/AdmiralTR 5h ago
No, it's S07E08, "The Siege of AR-558" when Quark is talking to Nog while observing long-suffering Starfleet humans on AR-558.
However, the root beer scene (S04E02, "The Way of the Warrior") always deserves to be shared when mentioned.
→ More replies (1)•
u/Mento-yStableGenius Virginia 5h ago
‘Cry ‘Havoc!’ and let slip the dogs of war…’
→ More replies (1)•
u/maxhibbitts 7h ago
The Supreme Court is very optimistic as well
•
u/TimelyAd6602 7h ago
This… as long as they have the SC they can really just do whatever they want
→ More replies (1)•
u/SmarmyThatGuy Kentucky 6h ago
All presidential acts in office are legal, or so I've been led to believe.
→ More replies (1)•
u/GaimeGuy Minnesota 5h ago
optimistic? When people can't identify republicans as the problem?
This country re-elected Bush after Iraq and Afghanistan. The Tea Party was voted in 21 months after Bush left office. It voted in trump after obama. It voted Trump back in after he killed millions, botched a pandemic, was a convicted felon, and tried to overthrow the country. And most americans will probably tell you Bush and Trump himself were the problems of the eras i mentioned. They are blind to the fact that an entire organization, an entire political party, is an identifiable problem.
You know what's going to happen? We're' going to kick Trump out in 2028 and then vote republicans right back into office at all levels except the presidency in 2030. Americans will never identify the GOP as the problem unless it becomes a predominantly ethnic minority party with the exact same policies.
I really don't understand how anyone can believe in this shitstain of a country's population given its failures to do the right thing over and over and over again.
→ More replies (1)•
u/MawsonAntarctica 6h ago
I wish I had your optimism because I see a lot of doomerism, or most people are just dejected making their way through the day. Everyone is short and conversations have an edge.
•
u/CpnStumpy Colorado 5h ago
The problem is when Americans stop being docile: it's not going to be directed where it should be. It will be violence between citizens factions because reactionary citizens will never stop blaming their neighbors.
Their authorities have them in complete thrall, they will never turn on those authorities ruining the country. When they finally snap they'll only know one potential target, and it won't be the people who've been yanking their chain their whole lives.
•
u/disastrousanddull 5h ago
It’s also that when they stop being docile it could be so down the road it won’t matter. Trump safely locked in his luxury bunker with a military he’s shaped the leadership of, his goons in ICE funded like a military and police not being bastions of light could just ride things out until things get crushed. “we’ll totally do something eventually. for sure.” isn’t actually worth that much if it happens too late.
•
u/fakeuser515357 5h ago
When in history have today's Americans not been docile as a group?
Americans tell themselves they are patiently waiting for the one outrage that goes too far but nothing in the last 70 years shows that to be true.
•
u/beren0073 6h ago
I’m hoping you turn out to be correct, but a significant portion of the population now views suffering as a happy sacrifice to make because it will MAGA. They think we just need to suffer harder, it’s the fault of anyone not like them, and the others need to suffer even worse.
Until a Democrat takes office, then any suffering as Democrats try to repair MAGA’s damage will be viewed as a crime against humanity.
•
u/Workman44 6h ago
The fact that Trump knows this is it, he's got 2 years and he will fade into obscurity and die shortly thereafter, means he will 100% go big as they say and do whatever fucked up shit he can. Whether that be Greenland again, nuking Iran, or blowing up Three Gorges dam
→ More replies (7)•
u/actusreus82 5h ago
It has to be overwhelming. Anything too close and they’ll screw us.
I don’t even really care if they try to do shenanigans after the vote to stay in power. As long as the general media consensus and international consensus is that they lost, then we can be game on for whatever comes next.
The worst case scenario is they rig the vote itself to make it look like they won.
→ More replies (2)•
u/crowsturnoff 6h ago
Here is why I'm a doomerist, and I think it is too late. Americans chose Trump to dismantle America, and there is no recovery in my lifetime.
1) Popularity and approval ratings don't matter. People hate Trump, but still vaguely think the Democrats are worse for no real reason. Not voting for Democrats is more important than fixing anything.
2) Americans still don't get how bad it is. They focus only on their own news sources that do not report critically of Trump, and just repeat videos of Trump saying everything is great and other countries are the problem. Americans don't see how truly dire the economy is, how much the world hates us, and that Trump is the direct cause of all this.
3) Americans gave Trump a second term and Republicans made sure to use it to implement as many changes to voting and elections as possible, to disenfranchise as many people as possible, and put in safe guards to prevent their losses in future elections. Even if the two points above end up being wrong and Americans do vote against Trump, I don't think we overcome these obstacles.
4) Even if all three of the above points are wrong, I don't think having a new Congress will change anything. Trump will still have SCOTUS. Trump already does everything without Congressional approval. Impeaching Trump does nothing - he was impeached twice his first term and faced no consequences. Any criminal investigation into Trump is dead, because he controls the DOJ. I see no reason why a new Congress will be any more effective than the current one.
→ More replies (1)•
u/elbow8075 South Dakota 5h ago
All of that may be true and it may even be what we need. However, we still have to try and hopefully, just maybe, we get lucky. If not, oh well, we tried.
•
u/crowsturnoff 5h ago
Our chance to "try" to stay a functioning country was the 2024 election.
•
u/elbow8075 South Dakota 5h ago
There's a list of chances a mile long. We have to try. You have a part to play like everyone else.
→ More replies (33)•
u/NewLeafWoodworks 3h ago edited 3h ago
I couldn't agree more. The doomerism just comes from lazy people who weren't going to help out anyways. There's a reason for choosing a viper to be on the Gadsden Flag. Vipers are super docile and harmless until you push them past the breaking point, then they strike and they strike HARD with venom and all. Americans can, and have, put up with an enormous amount of bullshit, but you push them far enough and it's not going to end well for you.
It doesn't matter how much money and technology the government throws towards surveillance and control; the Will of the People will ALWAYS win in the end, and history has proven this many times over. Just remember who we're up against: these assholes have never had to struggle a day in their lives. When push comes to shove, they will fold like a wet blanket.
(This is not and advocation of violence, rather support for defending our natural rights as human beings and Americans).
→ More replies (1)•
u/KennyShowers 7h ago
Exactly, the fact they're so openly directly making everything worse by their own actions makes it pretty clear this administration isn't concerned about another election.
Whether their lack of concern is founded or not can be debated, but Americans decided to give them and their enablers every lever of power, and I just have a hard time seeing them do every step of run a fair election, lose, and go "oh shucks that's too bad guess we'll get em next time."
•
u/Collypso Pennsylvania 6h ago
The tipping point already happened. November '24 was the moment enough voters looked at a guy who tried to overturn an election and handed it back to him anyway. That was the accountability failure. Everything since is just the consequence running its course.
If you treat November as the moment it all turns, that sets you up to check out when one election doesn't undo a structural problem, which is how people talk themselves into sitting the next one out.
→ More replies (1)•
u/BananaPalmer Georgia 5h ago
You still think Trump legitimately won 2024? Every single swing state? All above the recount margin? Pretty impressive. Unprecedented. Might even call it suspect.
→ More replies (13)•
u/xvx_k1r1t0_xvxkillme Connecticut 4h ago
Even if he didn't, the fact that the election was even close enough to rig means this country is thoroughly fucked.
•
u/sebrebc 6h ago
If they successfully rig the mid-terms, there is no chance this ever ends. Even with Trump leaving office one way or another, a new puppet will be "elected" in 2028.
•
u/CrotalusHorridus Kentucky 6h ago
They could elect Vance or someone, but let Trump stay in the Whitehouse as “MAGA Ambassador”
→ More replies (2)•
u/Indercarnive 6h ago
The truly terrifying thing is that even the biggest blue wave imaginable is not going to give Democrats a veto proof Senate, let alone impeachment ability
→ More replies (4)•
•
→ More replies (16)•
u/mspacman000 6h ago
I worry the US has slipped past the point of no return. Even if the majority of the public gets out and votes for a new government. Nothing has convinced me he will willingly leave. He's has aligned himself with people that will work with him to stop the peaceful transfer of power. He has learned what didnt work last time on Jan 6. I sincerely hope my worry is baseless and the safeguards hold up.
→ More replies (2)•
u/zeroman987 6h ago
This sentiment is voter suppression.
Whether you intend it, that is the result.
Check registration, vote early, in person, and worry about if he tries to act illegally later.
People over estimate his power. If he thought he could get away with it, he would do what you propose. He knows he can’t get away with it.
•
u/Letstalkreaper 6h ago
Bruh, he’s acting illegally now! What do you mean worry about it later? You’re in a thread about him doing shit to fuck with mail in ballots and midterm voting!
→ More replies (1)
•
u/Tiny_Structure_7 North Carolina 7h ago
If just a single ballot envelope scan does not align with the information in the portal, USPS will refuse to deliver the entire batch of ballots while the discrepancy is being sorted out.
That's just one of several flaws in this Republican voter SCAM. It is certain to steal votes from thousands of mail-in voters. If SCROTUS doesn't shut this shit show down, then our elections are going to be corrupted.
•
u/johnhills711 6h ago
The job of the USPS is to deliver the mail, not decide validity of ballots. Thats the poll workers job.
•
u/Letstalkreaper 6h ago edited 5h ago
Thanks to SCOTUS it’s actually not USPS’ job to deliver mail. They can choose not to at their discretion and cannot be sued anymore. They made that decision sometime in the last year.
EDIT: I missed two words
•
u/Doonce Maryland 6h ago
USPS can also legally decide not to deliver mail based on vibes.
→ More replies (24)•
u/don_keydick_42069 6h ago
Remember those super expensive sorting machines that were unique and couldn't be reproduced that trump had destroyed at post offices for no reason?
•
u/IT_Chef Virginia 6h ago
Why are conservatives so punitive with so much of their actions?
→ More replies (2)•
u/Bukowskified 5h ago
That’s the point. They start from a “reasonable” argument of “oh we need to just check that no one is inserting ballots the state doesn’t know about so we just match their list to ours”. Then make the punishment for a mistake match what their real end goal is of stopping all mail in ballots.
It will take some time to work out that ballot batch 23 of 42 was printed using the voter list updated on Sept 13th and USPS was checking it against a voter list from Sept 2nd, but by the time the ballots are sent people get 2 weeks to mail them back instead of 4. So XX% of votes are never caste. Just so happens that batch 23 was going to an overwhelming Democratic leaning part of the state.
•
u/wwhsd California 5h ago
And if someone was inserting mail in ballots that the state didn’t know about, they’d be doing it after the state receives the ballots in the mail after the state verification that the ballot received was legitimate.
Even if you are willing to accept that this is being done in good faith, it’s redundant and inefficient.
→ More replies (1)•
u/strangefish 5h ago
I will be putting my ballot on a drop box, as I have that opportunity. I don't trust the USPS to reliably deliver my ballot.
If I lived in some place like Florida or Texas, and needed to mail in my ballot, I'd register as a Republican and then vote Democrat.
•
u/reasonb4belief 6h ago
I also call them SCROTUS! (R is for Republican, for those out of the loop) I doubt they’ll do the right thing…
•
•
u/Yard-Ornament 5h ago
Isn't fucking with mail in voting also going to hurt Republicans? I'm pretty sure Democrats aren't the only ones doing mail in voting.
•
u/kawwmoi 4h ago
Yes but no. For democrats, mail in voting matters most in areas with high population density and not enough polling places. Since working age Americans tend towards being democrats, more democrats have to go during the narrow window when they aren't at work and the polls haven't closed yet. More people showing up simultaneously results in people just not having enough time to stand in line for hours. The elderly and retired lean towards republican and don't have as strict a time frame, so they can more easily vote in person.
TL:DR more Democrats can't realistically vote in person than Republicans and need mail in voting.
•
u/robocoplawyer 2h ago
This is it, and the Republicans have been doing these kinds of disenfranchisement efforts for as long as I have been voting, probably longer. They use demographic trends of likely voter outcomes to selectively make it more difficult to vote in high-population areas that are key to electoral success for Democrats. Meanwhile in rural areas that are more likely to vote conservative, those restrictive measures aren't enforced and it's much easier to vote. Whether that be not having to wait 8 hours in a long line to get to the ballot box because they close polling places in cities while keeping open all of them in rural areas so those people can vote in minutes, or by mail not having their ballot thrown out because it was part of a large batch from a high-population center that was thrown out because one ballot was found to be "questionable". But every election cycle they implement more and more draconian restrictions making it more difficult for people who live in blue areas to cast a vote altogether. They're ok with some Republican voters being disenfranchised if it means even more Democratic voters are disenfranchised.
Look no further than Texas for an example of it working. Every election cycle I see article after article about the demographic changes and polling indicating that this will finally be the year that Texas votes blue, and every election I'm not surprised when I see the Republican candidate win by 5+%. Obviously since states primarily control their own elections, it's more prominent in red states. But even in some swing states, look at how when Republicans have control they consolidate power. I don't have the exact numbers, but look at North Carolina's vote tallies compared with their representation.
→ More replies (7)•
•
u/One-Emu-1103 7h ago
The US Postal Service effort to develop a sweeping new system for verifying mail ballots has invited a host of IT concerns among agency officials, with some describing the process internally as a “sh*t show,” according to a new whistleblower report released Tuesday by a Democratic senator.
The unnamed whistleblower is alleging that some of the procedures USPS is planning – under mandates put forward by President Donald Trump – have been hidden from the public. Those procedures will make an already complicated and risky plan even more vulnerable to potential mass disenfranchisement, the whistleblower says.
The new report – which was assembled by the whistleblowers’ lawyers and released by Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal – comes as multiple courts are considering the legality of the proposal, which would require that states submit to USPS lists of their mail-in voters. The agency will not deliver ballots for states if there are any discrepancies between the voter information in the USPS system and what’s picked up by agency scanners on the envelopes of the ballots.
“USPS leadership, it appears, has discarded all best practices as they speed the project to be ready for a September 1 implementation - raising questions about whether catastrophic failure would be a feature rather than a bug,” said the report.
•
u/Roklam Connecticut 7h ago
Well I'm just gonna tell everyone who matters that they need to vote in person, on Livestream - for safety.
•
u/casper911ca 6h ago edited 6h ago
That's the problem, many states are closing polling locations, meaning to vote you'll need two very important resources: transportation and a fuck load of time. Something that ultra wealthy and some retirees have plenty of, and regular working aged people don't. I won't be surprised if some people will be waiting all day until polling closes and they don't get to vote.
•
u/nephrenra 6h ago
If you are in line when the polls close, STAY IN LINE! Even if the polls are closed you have the right to vote if you arrived before the polls close. Do not leave just because they say it's closed.
→ More replies (1)•
u/xarcastic 5h ago
Let’s see how that works out this time
•
u/templethot 5h ago
Yeah I can see local sheriffs departments declaring an “unlawful assembly” as soon as the polls close to conveniently disperse voters.
•
u/nephrenra 3h ago
They could do that, sure. But I'm only leaving under two circumstances. Either I get to cast my ballot as a right granted to me by the United States Constitution, or they drag me away in cuffs. Then it's time for lawyers and video evidence of civil rights violations and voter suppression. If they are going to take away our rights they should be made to do it by force, not by meek capitulation.
•
→ More replies (1)•
u/atimaxx 1h ago
Election day should be a Federal holiday, hard stop. This is one of the first executive orders a Democrat administration should put in place when they regain control.
→ More replies (1)•
→ More replies (2)•
u/BirdInFlight301 Louisiana 6h ago
This would be ideal but people who are paid by the hour will be hit hard by long lines and times.
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (1)•
•
u/greywar777 7h ago
I have decades of experience in software development and QA. The description of whats going on guarantees a total failure of this under stress.
No time to write down design specs? That is INSANE for a large software project. The description of whats going on screams intentional failure point to me.
•
u/Harry_Mud America 7h ago edited 5h ago
I've been a software developer for over 40 years. You are 100% correct. But the bigger question is, why do the USPS think they can do this in the first place. It's against Federal law for them to to do this and they know it. They are mandated to pick up the mail and deliver it. That's it. tRumps EO's are not laws and for sure can't circumvent the law.
•
u/therealruin 6h ago edited 3h ago
Because we have a reactive legal system, not a proactive one. They get to break the law and then we have to prove it and then they get held accountable. Meanwhile, all of their illegal shit gets to stand just long enough to do the damage it needs to do. By the time we catch up and legally declare it illegal, the damage is done and the perpetrators have moved on.
This is what an organized
bloodless non-militarizedcivil(?) coup looks like. Our country is currently under attack from foreign and domestic adversaries who believe Democracy in the West must be destroyed. We’re a decade into this being public knowledge and people still don’t get it.→ More replies (7)•
u/bernmont2016 America 5h ago
and then they get held accountable
Well, and then they might eventually get held accountable, after years of appeals.
•
u/therealruin 5h ago
I’m using procedural language here, not moralistic. I’m saying that our legal system works like this: Public Accusation > Proven Verdict > Rendered Judgment. It was deliberately oversimplified because it’s supporting evidence, not the main point.
→ More replies (2)•
u/Decent_Cheesecake_29 6h ago
Because Trump and his cronies are not beholden to law or the constitution.
→ More replies (3)→ More replies (1)•
u/Letstalkreaper 6h ago edited 5h ago
They are mandated to pick up the mail and deliver it.
This is not accurate. SCOTUS ruled
lastthis year that USPS has no requirement to deliver mail and therefore cannot be sued for deliberately not delivering mail.EDIT: I messed up and it was this year.
→ More replies (2)•
u/I1lIIII1ll1I 5h ago
As a USPS HQ analyst, this is par for the course on any of our development.
We get constantly shifting asks and guidance when we're dealing with any group. When we're dealing with multiple groups it's almost hilariously bad.
The vast majority of USPS employees are proud of the work we do and think efforts to interfere with mail delivery are bullshit. I would honestly wager multiple people involved in this development process are deliberately tanking it in effort to not have anything that could be put into pay.
•
•
u/bbills91 7h ago
Yup, same. There is a 0% chance this will work as intended, unless failure was the intended outcome in the first place.
•
u/Decent_Cheesecake_29 6h ago
So it’s a 100% chance that this will work out exactly as desired.
•
u/Sonamdrukpa 5h ago
There's always the chance that an engineer "forgets" to comment out code that automatically marks the bar codes as passing for testing purposes before pushing to production
•
•
u/RagnarsHairyBritches 7h ago
Especially for something as important as voting. I'm a developer too and if I submitted any project, no matter how small, without specs and a detailed BRD, I would get laughed at.
•
→ More replies (8)•
•
u/Depressed-Industry 7h ago
"Those procedures will make an already complicated and risky plan even more vulnerable to potential mass disenfranchisement, the whistleblower says."
Feature, not a bug.
•
u/badamant 7h ago
Yup.
Reminder:
There is NO PROBLEM with elections and mail in ballots in the USA.
The Republican Party is lying to try to steal the election.
→ More replies (1)•
u/CrashNowhereDrive 7h ago
Yeah. They want the most immoral people at the USPS (guess what color hat they wear) to be able to put there finger on the scales with no oversight, turn it into a mess and have SCOTUS call balls and strikes
→ More replies (3)
•
u/showhorrorshow 7h ago
It's beyond evident at this point that targetted disenfranchisement is their goal. Sadly, it is not evident that voters are motivated enough to overcome these plans through overwhelming numbers.
Get out, volunteer, canvass. I know a lot of people who may want to think themselves above party politics but we dont really have a choice.
•
u/kdmtravler 6h ago
How much of this is to ensure that there is little trust in the election process? I think this is all part of a larger plan to play into the idea that our elections are not secure and to set the stage to or otherwise impact the 2028 elections.
•
u/a_rabid_buffalo Minnesota 6h ago edited 5h ago
This will lead to multiple things it sows doubt in the elections and potentially discourages people from voting because “why would I? My vote isn’t going to count anyways”. But more importantly it’s going to cause chaos. Elections are run by the state not by the federal government, if a state wants to be counted as legitimate votes they will need to implement this before November which they can’t. So even if votes are counted and it’s a massive blue wave it gives Trump and friends reasons to toss out those votes because “the crooked left and Joe Biden have rigged the election again”.
•
u/ForestFae1920 6h ago
I don't understand this to be honest. Voting is a states rights issues and the post office is a federal program. How is this allowed constitutionally ? States run the elections under the constitution the post office has no legal right to interfere with that.
•
u/WeirdIndividualGuy 5h ago
How is this allowed constitutionally ?
The year is 2026, six years of Trump governing, and people are still naively asking "how is this illegal thing happening?" like it hasn't been going on for I repeat six years of Trump governing.
•
•
u/tnoy 4h ago
How is this allowed constitutionally?
Here is an analogy for what's going on:
Lets say someone breaks into your house and steals your TV, you'll need to go to the police to file a report. In this hypothetical, in the process of stealing the TV, they get caught on camera and drop their wallet with their ID in it, so you have direct evidence of them doing it. If you then go to the police with the evidence and they just shrug and say "Oh, well, we can't do anything about it.", someone just stole your TV and nothing will happen to them.
Except what is actually happening is that the police are working with someone to steal TVs and they're actively going out of their way to make sure the person stealing the TVs is protected legally.
→ More replies (1)•
u/The_EMG_Guy 6h ago
I think, legally, its
states run elections
fed runs postAnything beyond that (whether fed can/can't direct post w.r.t. elections) requires either an explicit law, a court precedent or ruling (ongoing), or is held in check by the understanding that congress wouldn't allow it.
Lately, the third piece has abdicated to Trump, the first just can't be made robust to new types of nonsense ("new rule: a day shall not constitute a calendar day, so all those other laws are frozen"), and the second takes time (and requires the Legislative branch to check the Executive if the Executive simply ignores the ruling).
→ More replies (1)
•
u/the_itsb Ohio 5h ago
The information on the manifests – including unique bar codes election officials are required, under the rules, to assign each voter – must match perfectly with the information in the portal before election officials are allowed drop off the ballots, the report says.
(emphasis mine)
how is this not eliminating the secrecy of these votes?
→ More replies (1)•
u/Celloer 5h ago
I think who you voted for is still secret, but that you voted at all has been public.
•
•
u/giocondasmiles America 4h ago
Yes, but the mail in ballots, for the primary at least, very clearly stated which party you were registered with.
I, with a brown-sounding name and a registered democrat, did not receive my original, nor my replacement mail in ballot last June.
My brown ass is going to be bright and early voting in person come November.
→ More replies (1)
•
u/bbills91 7h ago
Every Dem that can (I know there are some that may not have a choice), should NOT use the USPS due to the corruption going on. Even if the courts tell the USPS they aren't allowed to do this (as they already have) they are under the impression Trump will protect them and they will not face consequences for refusing court orders.
•
•
u/nonsensestuff 4h ago
I am in Oregon where we only vote by mail. I really hope they’re working on plans to work with people to pick up their ballots in person, because I don’t think anyone should just assume anything will be going normally in this election.
My husband had a hell of a time just trying to get his ballot for the midterm— requested 3 different replacements that never arrived and eventually had to go in person. But the average voter may not even have the capacity to jump through those hoops.
→ More replies (3)•
u/stupidstu187 4h ago
I always drop my ballot off at the my county's Board of Elections. Fuck putting that shit in the mail.
→ More replies (1)
•
u/keytiri 5h ago
The last paragraph:
“As designed, the process is entirely unforgiving. It could delay ballots by the thousands in repeated verification cycles - and thus prevent states from mailing enormous numbers of ballots,” the report says.
Sounds like it’s going to be working as they intended.
•
u/BeardedTallGuy 6h ago
If they want to take away our STATE RIGHT to vote by mail then I say we fucking show up at the voting polls in mass numbers and vote out the complacent fuckers that allowed this! Get out and vote so we can take back our country.
→ More replies (2)
•
u/platinumarks 6h ago
I suspect they’re also just straight up messing with the mail like in the past elections. I have multiple packages from multiple locations being sent to me in New York that just keep bouncing around between the same two distribution centers. This only started happening very recently, notably around the time that ballots were about to be sent out.
•
u/IT_Chef Virginia 6h ago
While conservatives are celebrating this...do they not grasp that this can turn into something against them too?
•
→ More replies (1)•
u/s3dfdg289fdgd9829r48 5h ago
These people are morons. They cannot grasp anything until it directly affects them. There's no foresight at all.
•
u/DoctorBocker 7h ago
Honestly, Trump and DeJoy have done more damage to the PS reputation than that decade where they were doing all the workplace shootings.
•
u/grr5000 7h ago
Dejoy isn’t even in charge anymore. He left last year because of a fallout with trump over planned changes… apparently this new lackey they installed has no problem doing those things
•
u/Individual-Guest-123 6h ago edited 6h ago
Well, he paved the road. He ended "local" mail slots in Post offices, so all mail goes through an automated hub.THAT is where the ballots will be pulled. It will scan the name on the ballot and compare it to "the list", which conveniently includes the party of the voter.
•
u/silent-sight 7h ago
They want to stall as much as possible through the court system, to prevent a democratic government from taking power, while Trump and his cronies destroy what little is left of democracy and global economy
•
•
•
u/mattjf22 California 6h ago
Why wouldn't they do this? There are no consequences for any wrongdoing so there is nothing to deter them.
•
u/don_keydick_42069 6h ago
Remember those super expensive sorting machines that were unique and couldn't be reproduced that trump had destroyed at post offices for no reason?
•
u/Question_It_All_3000 5h ago
This is so diabolical. One bad ballot sours a pile of 400. I suspect this will be only done to bags of ballots from liberal areas.
No one’s doing anything to stop it because “it’s illegal” and then they’ll be wondering why and how it went though anyways.
•
u/Twisterpa California 4h ago
The Supreme Court just stayed the state's injunction basically saying "you sued too early and we don't see a concrete injury"
But isn't that the wrong question? The Supreme Court has completely flipped the constitutional burden. The President does not begin with the relevant election regulation power.
The Executive gets the practical benefit of exercising an unproven power while the parties who possess the antecedent constitutional role are required to wait for more concrete injury before the judiciary tests the Executive’s authority.
That is fucking backwards. The Supreme Court is fully compromised.
•
u/Marvin_Frommars 4h ago
“insisted that it was easy to understand what was needed and also that there was no time to write down the requirements.”
Holy fucking shit.
•
u/Vomahl_Dawnstalker 5h ago
The USPS is creating a clandestine set of requirements in conjunction with another agency (DHS) that has absolutely zero authority over the conduct of elections; to remove US citizen's right to vote.
Republicans should never hold power in the country again. The entire party is fascist, and is an existential threat to democracy.
•
u/falthecosmonaut Massachusetts 6h ago
They cheated in 2024 and are going to do it again.
→ More replies (1)
•
u/Pave_Low 5h ago
At this point, they've already succeeded. American democracy only works because people assume their vote is counted.
They don't actually need to implement any plan. They just need to convince people that their vote-by-mail is compromised. They have introduced massive FUD in a voting system that has worked perfectly fine for decades. Now, regardless of which party wins or loses, there's doubt in the accuracy of the election process. Did my vote get counted? Did it not? How do I know? Can I trust the postal service? Can I trust my voting machine?
This is the damage that's not fixed with a change in administration.
•
u/DryAnxiety9 6h ago
Things are going to get very uncomfortable for the entire GOP, USPS, and anything associated with this administration. All peacefully done, just very uncomfortable. Their days of enjoying public life anywhere is going to be fraught with all sorts of new distractions.
•
u/chlronald 4h ago
He is trying to make everything voting unnecessary complicated and troublesome in hopes that either people are too overwhelm to vote, or try to void the outcome with this excuse if it wasn't to his favor.
•
•
u/LetMeGetMyPipe 3h ago
The courts will not allow this. the pushback has already begun. Trump is desperate for something...anything to save his ass and it's not gonna work. He also is doing this to keep the MAGAs motivated to actually vote in November.
•
u/templeofsyrinx1 3h ago
so what is left for the people but revolution in the face of tyranny
the executive branch does not control voting, congress and the states do
if the supreme court approves this and overthrows the constitution
Under Article I, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution (the Elections Clause), the authority to set the "Times, Places and Manner" of holding elections rests primarily with state legislatures, subject to overrides enacted by Congress, not the executive branch.
⬆️
Why the fuck is the Supreme Court dragging its feet?
•
u/paperbackgarbage California 2h ago
Why the fuck is the Supreme Court dragging its feet?
Lol. Come on. We all know the answer to that.
•
u/elshizzo 6h ago
the word needs to be spread that mail in voting is getting fucked with this year and that people need to do it in person
•
u/WhoFearsDeath 6h ago
Entire states vote exclusively by mail. In other areas people vote by mail because they need to, not because they choose to.
And allowing people to vote by mail increases voter turn out.
Stop giving in before the fight.
Track your ballot, do whatever you need to ensure it is counted, but the important thing is to vote.
→ More replies (1)
•
u/nonymiz 6h ago
"effort to develop a sweeping new system for verifying mail ballots"
Let me guess... They'll open the ballots, and if the vote is blue, they'll toss the ballot away. Why not? Who's gonna stop them?
→ More replies (1)
•
u/nopethisisafakeacct 5h ago
Time for a coordinated walk-out / single-day national strike on election day. Go to your polling place.
If you absolutely can't, drop off your mail-in ballot at your county election office instead.
•
u/hackersgalley 5h ago
Historically the GOP had had an advantage with voting by mail, would be amazing if their stupidity bit them in the ass and this ended up hurting them more.
•
u/whatlineisitanyway 5h ago
Of course catastrophic failure is a feature not a bug. I'm holding out hope that this will cause more people to go to the polls to vote against this tyranny while those that support it won't be enthusiastic to actually go out and vote if their ballots don't arrive.
•
•
u/Vaux1916 4h ago
I've voted by mail every election for over a decade. You can bet your ass I'm going to the polls this election.
→ More replies (1)
•
u/GryphonCough 4h ago
Jesus Christ. At this point, plan on taking a sick day or PTO day on November 3rd. Don’t let them find a way to throw your vote in the trash. If republicans win, the rest of your lives will be miserable. Even if you get fired for being sick, it’s better than a lifetime of republican hell.
I’m in Colorado, so I will be using a drop box and not using the postal service to vote. I suggest everyone who has the option do the same. Or just go to the polls, especially if you’re a minority (let’s be honest, they’re targeting minorities and not white dudes).
•
u/misken67 California 56m ago
Drop box won't work if the mail ballot never reaches you in the first place.
Have a plan to vote in person, early if your state allows it, if you never receive your ballot.
→ More replies (1)
•
u/xeonicus 2h ago edited 2h ago
This is incredibly illegal and I can't believe it's being allowed. The USPS was created by Congress with the very explicit condition that it was independent and not subject to political interference of any kind. And yet, that is exactly what Trump is doing via an executive order. None of these policies should even be valid. Trump's executive order is illegal.
•
u/KevinCastle 6h ago
I actually hope that Trump gets what he wants, and the anti-maga come out and vote in person just to rub in maga faces that we voted with their stupid rules, and still won
•
u/Tasty-Mulberry8073 5h ago
Looks like I will be walking my ballot to the ballot box instead of mailing it in this year.
•
u/FrumptyLumpty 4h ago
They want to just throw out mail-in ballots silently, and by the time anyone figures out what happened, it's too late, the election is already over.
•
u/Due_Speaker4655 3h ago
From the article:
A judge last week froze the mandates that the states use the system if they want USPS to deliver their ballots, but said USPS could still offer the portal to states that voluntarily want to upload the mail voter information.
Countdown until this is hacked…..
•
u/hawksdiesel Missouri 3h ago
so are they going to throw out the ballots from the service members overseas?!?!?!?
•
u/marvin02 3h ago
The fact that this is all clearly illegal but nobody is allowed to stop it is completely insane. What the actual fuck are we doing?
•
u/86753ohneigheine 5h ago
" which would require that states submit to USPS lists of their mail-in voters. The agency will not deliver ballots for states if there are any discrepancies between the voter information in the USPS system and what’s picked up by agency scanners on the envelopes of the ballots."
•
u/_s1dew1nder_ 5h ago
So now what? Even if we get our ballots and get them to the post office, the GOP will just decide for some arbitrary reason "Yeah, we don't like those ballots, they don't count. Oh, they're from blue districts? Coincidence."
Not everyone can get to a place to vote to place their vote. They already showed that MAGA is willing to call in bomb threats in blue districts and states to disrupt the voting process. I'm very sure that ICE will be patrolling the areas to intimidate anyone not neon white from coming to the voting booths. MAGA will most likely be out threatening anyone they feel will vote blue where ever they can.
Everyone says "make sure you vote! Get them out of office!" - yet they are making it incredibly difficult to do just that. And even if we were able to vote, and get a landslide of results to go our way, I feel like they'll just tie everything in court for so long it won't make a difference.
I try not to be all doom and gloom, but it's getting more and more difficult not to think of it as a lost cause. I'm going to vote, and I'm going to do it no matter what anyone says or does, but others just don't have the same luxury to do the same as I do. I just feel like we're in a losing battle.
•
u/bbusiello 5h ago
They tired to cheat in 2020. They cheated in 2024 (of course none of the investigations have gone anywhere or made MSM). And they are going to cheat this time.
•
u/highsinthe70s 5h ago
Just don’t risk voting my mail this November. Vote in person. Period. Otherwise you’ll never know if your vote was counted.
•
u/metengrinwi 5h ago
Early in-person is the best solution anywhere it’s available. That’s how I’ve voted for several years now and it’s great.
•
u/gcwardii Wisconsin 5h ago
Even if they don’t actually do anything, they’ve introduced enough chaos and confusion to cause problems
•
•
u/StormMysterious7592 4h ago
"there was no time to write down the requirements" said by senior officials means that they intend for failure as a feature.
•
u/DetroitMoves 4h ago
What the current regime doesn’t seem to understand is that free elections of the people, by the people, for the people, SHALL NOT PERISH FROM THIS EARTH. I believe there’s a few tens of millions of my compatriots who feel the same way. They will try but they cannot hold us down for long. I bet my life on it.
•
u/FlowEcho 4h ago edited 3h ago
Real question, are ballots that get sent to us at risk of being interfered with if we drop them in a ballot box? In Colorado here, our ballots get mailed but have always just dropped them in the local ballot box.
•
u/AutoModerator 7h ago
As a reminder, this subreddit is for civil discussion.
In general, please be courteous to others. Argue the merits of ideas, don't attack other posters or commenters. Hate speech, any suggestion or support of physical harm, or other rule violations can result in a temporary or a permanent ban. If you see comments in violation of our rules, please report them.
Sub-thread Information
If the post flair on this post indicates the wrong paywall status, please report this Automoderator comment with a custom report of “incorrect flair”.
Announcement
r/Politics is actively looking for new moderators. If you have an interest in helping to make this subreddit a place for quality discussion, please fill out this form.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.