USPS opens internal probe into whistleblower’s mail voting claims, Dems say

U.S. Postal Service’s (USPS) inspector general has opened an investigation into new whistleblower claims that the agency’s haphazard implementation of President Donald Trump’s anti-mail voting executive order could unleash chaos and disenfranchise millions of voters this November, Democratic lawmakers said Friday.

The new probe comes just days after Democrats asked USPS Inspector General Tammy Hull in a letter to “immediately” open a probe into the whistleblower’s allegations and ensure that voting by mail is protected for the upcoming midterms.

“The top watchdog at the USPS informed us they are opening an investigation into the Trump Administration’s attempt to undermine vote-by-mail,” Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, said in a statement Friday.

“Donald Trump’s attempt to potentially interfere with our elections and oppress millions of ballots will be fought every step of the way. We will continue fighting to defend vote-by-mail for every single American,” Garcia added.

The USPS Inspector General’s Office did not immediately respond to Democracy Docket’s request for comment.

News of the probe came just moments before a federal judge in Massachusetts barred USPS from forcing states to comply with its mail voting restrictions. States can still voluntarily comply under the court order.

In a report earlier this week, the anonymous whistleblower alleged that the Postal Service’s new verification process could result in tens of thousands of mail ballots never being delivered to voters who are eligible to vote by mail.

For many voters, especially those with disabilities, not receiving mail ballots means being disenfranchised.

Additionally, the whistleblower claimed that the digital infrastructure USPS is creating to enforce its new requirements on mail ballots remains “astonishingly untested” and will likely result in innumerable bureaucratic mistakes and thousands of mail ballots going undelivered.

In ongoing legal battles over USPS’s new rule, the Department of Justice and the postal agency itself haven’t denied the whistleblower’s alarming allegations.

In a new statement Friday, Postmaster General David Steiner acknowledged the claims but defended the rule.

“We stand behind both the rigor of our process and the resulting system,” he said. “At the same time, we recognize that responsible system management does not end at deployment. We will continue to monitor performance, address issues as they arise, and make adjustments when warranted.”