Watchdog sues USPS over records from plan to restrict mail ballots

By Alexandra Hutzler

Mailboxes are seen outside of a US Post Office in Washington, DC on August 17, 2020. - The United States Postal Service is popularly known for delivering mail despite snow, rain or heat, but it faces a new foe in President Donald Trump. Ahead of the November 3 elections in which millions of voters are expected to cast ballots by mail due to the coronavirus, Trump has leveled an unprecedented attack at the USPS, opposing efforts to give the cash-strapped agency more money as part of a big new virus-related stimulus package, even as changes there have caused delays in mail delivery. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is violating open records laws by refusing to provide documents on its plan to screen mail ballots as part of President Donald Trump’s anti-voting executive order, a nonpartisan government watchdog alleged in a new lawsuit.

The effort was spurred by a recent bombshell whistleblower report that described the agency’s “haphazard” process for developing the “Federal Mail Ballot Portal.”

Despite the Supreme Court putting the plan on hold for the midterm elections, the watchdog, American Oversight, said the mail agency’s blueprint for implementing the system in future elections remains “uncertain and opaque.”

That leaves “significant questions and concerns as to whether election officials and the federal government (including USPS, which has not historically played a direct role in election administration) will be able to ensure that eligible voters seeking to vote by mail or absentee will be able to rely on the Postal Service to deliver their ballots,” the group wrote in the lawsuit.

Trump’s March executive order directed the postmaster general to propose a new rule requiring states to upload the names and personal information of everyone authorized to vote by mail. If states don’t comply, USPS said it won’t deliver ballots.

The anonymous whistleblower told Congress that the software’s development was rushed and done in secret, in defiance of court orders. The whistleblower also warned that a single scanning error among tens of thousands of ballot envelopes could prevent the entire batch from reaching voters.

American Oversight filed four Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for documents that had the potential to shed light on the whistleblower’s claims, including communications by top USPS officials on the portal’s development and protocols for curing potential ballot issues.

With no response from USPS, the group said it’s asking the courts to step in and force the agency’s hand.

“USPS has failed to respond to these proper requests for expedited processing in the time permitted by statute, and, accordingly, American Oversight now brings this action under FOIA and the Declaratory Judgment Act, seeking declaratory and injunctive relief to compel compliance with the requirements of FOIA and the release of the requested records,” the watchdog said.

While the Supreme Court struck down the USPS plan for this fall’s elections, litigation continues in the lower courts to keep it from being allowed in 2028 and beyond.

Chioma Chukwu, the executive director of American Oversight, said comments from Trump and his top officials criticizing the court’s decision make clear the “administration’s efforts to interfere with our elections are far from over.”

“The public deserves to know who approved this, how far USPS was prepared to go, and what else may be underway,” Chukwu said in a statement.