Whistleblower says USPS system Trump ordered for mail ballots is flawed and untested

Whistleblower Complaint Alleges Flaws in USPS Mail Ballot Verification System Developed Under Executive Order

An anonymous federal official filed a whistleblower complaint this week alleging that a technical system built by the U.S. Postal Service to support mail ballot distribution contains design and testing deficiencies that could disrupt operations if implemented for the midterm elections. President Donald Trump issued an executive order in March directing the creation of federal lists of citizens and instructing the Postal Service to send mail ballots only to individuals on those lists. A federal judge has blocked the order pending litigation over its constitutionality. The complaint outlines technical concerns that could surface if the courts ultimately uphold the order.

The Postal Service has historically handled only the physical transport of mail ballots between election offices and voters. The federal government has not previously maintained a centralized list of all citizens. The executive order assigned the agency an expanded role in voter verification for mail ballots. The whistleblower complaint, sent to the office of Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., a member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, states that the verification portal was developed through a “rushed, chaotic, and fundamentally flawed process.” Blumenthal forwarded the complaint to Postmaster General David Steiner on Monday and requested additional information.

Blumenthal stated on a call with reporters that the administration appeared focused on altering ballot procedures and described the ongoing litigation as raising constitutional questions. He added that the complaint indicated the system might not function as intended for the midterm elections. The whistleblower, represented by the nonprofit Whistleblower Aid, alleged that the Postal Service did not begin substantive work on the verification portal until June. The complaint claims this timeline provided less than three months for a project that would normally require nine to 12 months.

The agency issued a final rule last month detailing implementation steps. The rule would increase workload for state and local election officials and introduce additional verification requirements for voters seeking to use mail ballots. According to the complaint, the portal would reject entire batches of ballots if any single item failed verification. “As presently designed, if even one bar code on one single ballot in a bulk-mailing of 10,000 ballots fails to properly scan during the verification process, the entire batch is rejected and sent back to the state — effectively stopping the ballots from being mailed to voters,” the complaint states. It notes that barcode scanning errors occur under normal conditions.

The complaint further alleges that staff members expressed concerns the system could experience failures and characterized the development process, days before a planned public release, as a “s--- show.” It also states that Postal Service personnel were directed to continue work on the system despite the court order blocking implementation. The Postal Service and the White House did not respond to requests for comment by the time of publication.

The executive order’s stated purpose was to restrict mail ballot distribution to verified citizens through federal lists. Litigation challenging the order remains active, and the Postal Service has not publicly detailed contingency plans or alternative verification methods under consideration. The complaint does not include independent technical audits or performance data from the system.