It is happening here.
Despite Lower Court blockades and no ruling from the United States Supreme Court on the merits of his Executive Order restricting mail-in balloting, whistleblower revelations from a postal official claim that Donald Trump’s leadership at the United States Postal Service is apparently ignoring the courts and secretly moving forward in an accelerated, half-assed fashion to install verification mechanisms for mail-in ballots even though their technical apparatuses have not been fully tested with the possibility that tens of thousands of ballot bundles would be returned to state offices if only one fails a bar code scan is very real.
If Trump and his allies at the Postal Service move forward and defy the courts in the hopes that the Supreme Court will eventually give them judicial cover, millions of people could lose their ability to vote by mail and this country could face a major Constitutional Crisis where the 50 states legal rights to run elections within their boundaries is serioulsy compromised.
Responding to the whistleblower revelations, Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes issued a statement that read:
“This is more confirmation of what my office and myself have been concerned about—that it will be virtually impossible for the USPS to actually implement this rule effectively for the November 3 midterm election and the result will be the disenfranchisement of millions of Americans who vote by mail.
Arizona has allowed eligible voters to vote by mail since the 1990s because we know that voting by mail is safe, secure, and increases voter accessibility. In fact, more than 80% of Arizona voters choose to vote early and overwhelmingly by mail.
If the USPS decides to go against courts’ orders and rushes to implement this rule, it will be devastating for Arizona voters, and it will derail the entire midterm election. Under this rule, if a single ballot in a batch of 10,000 has an issue, USPS could refuse to mail all 10,000 ballots, not just the one that was flagged.
Fair and accessible elections are the backbone of our Democracy, and the government works at the consent of the governed, not the other way around. This rule change is a blatant attempt to alter that tenant and undermine mail voting for political reasons.
As Arizona’s Chief Elections Officer, I’m fighting for voters to be able to vote by mail without concerns or uncertainty. That’s why I am encouraging every Arizonan who votes by mail to receive it, vote it, and return it by mail immediately. Individuals who vote by mail are also encouraged to sign up for BallotTrax so they can track their ballot and ensure it was counted.”
In a social media post, Secretary Fontes said:
“…Look, the disruptions that we’re seeing coming from the federal government should not be surprising for us, but they should also not throw us off track. We are working towards having a great election this year.
You will be able to vote by mail. We’ve just got to deal with all of these distractions and all these challenges to the systems that you’ve come to know and trust. Sign up for ballot tracks today.
It’s one way that we can have our accountability as we track our ballots back and forth through mail. For more information on that, go to arizona.vote. And remember, it’s Arizonans, just like you, who actually run our elections and do that work. I’m Adrian Fontes, Arizona Secretary of State.
Go to arizona.vote for more information.”
Arizona Representative Yassamin Ansari also issued a social media reaction, posting:
“…Last night, Oversight Democrats received a shocking whistleblower report from a post office federal official warning that Trump’s new tracking system is flawed, it’s untested, it is dangerous, and it has the potential to cause massive disruptions in ballot delivery for millions of Americans. Let’s break down how this happened.
Under this secret system, the Postal Service could refuse to deny tens of thousands of ballots if postal or state workers find even a single mistake with a barcode. The whistleblower detailed how this secretive, rushed, and fundamentally flawed process is being carried out to undermine the midterms, all of it in defiance of multiple court orders, and he explained how this scheme is being covered up by officials and they have lied to Congress along the way. So again, despite multiple court orders, the Trump administration, at the directive of the President, is moving forward with this unconstitutional and dangerous system in an effort to rig the midterm elections this November.
In Arizona, the majority of people vote by mail. No matter what your political party is, this is how we participate in the political process. If you’re a Democrat, an Independent, or a Republican, oversight Democrats are taking this extremely seriously.
We’re fighting back in the courts, and we’re going to have more information soon on how the Democratic caucus as a whole is fighting against this unconstitutional power grab because the stakes could not be higher.”
Representative Adelita Grijalva wrote:
“A whistleblower just sounded the alarm that USPS is rushing forward with Trump’s plan that could severely jeopardize voters’ access to mail-in ballots this November.
Trump himself votes by mail.
This isn’t about fraud. It’s about making it harder for you to vote.”
Senator Ruben Gallego posted:
“A whistleblower just confirmed Trump’s mail-ballot verification system is broken enough to lose or reject people’s ballots ahead of the midterms.
I am calling for an immediate stop to this rollout, and I am demanding that USPS leadership come before Congress to testify under oath.
The American people deserve answers before a single ballot is put at risk.”
Senator Mark Kelly stated:
“Many Americans prefer voting by mail because it’s safe and convenient. But Trump doesn’t want to protect our elections; he wants to protect his own power. This will make it harder for millions of Americans to vote this November, and that’s the point.”
Secretary Fontes is right when he advises Arizonans that if they get their ballot in the mail, they need to fill it out and mail it back right away or put it in a drop box or turn it in at a ballot site.
Representative Ansari is right in saying that this affects all voters, no matter their political party, unless, not to get paranoid here, the Postal Service has devised a screening system to send the ballots to mostly Republicans and delay everyone else’s.
Representative Grijalva, along with Senators Kelly and Gallego, are correct when they say this is a naked power grab to control the outcome of elections by Mr. Trump and his MAGA White Nationalist Republican Allies.
What voters need to start thinking about is being prepared to immediately drop off their mail-in ballots at an alternative approved site like a drop box and voting location because the Postal Service may not be reliable.
Furthermore, the states suing the federal government should ask the judges presiding over these cases to hold the postal leadership in contempt for ignoring their blocking the implementation of the Trump Executive Order and either prescribe large fines or imprisonment. This is American Democracy at stake here, and these people are covertly defying it.
Finally, Democrats and like-minded Independents and Republicans at the state level should work to make it possible for citizens to vote via the Internet.
If people can sign contracts on the Internet, they should be able to vote via the internet.
If people can vote on the Internet for the next American Idol or Dancing with Stars winners, they should be able to vote for their preferred candidates via the Internet.
If people can conclude secured financial transactions on the internet, they should be able to do the same with their right to vote.
Then, people do not have to worry about political cronies at the Postal Service doing the bidding of any fascist President like Trump that comes along and delaying the delivery of their mail-in ballots.
It is a good idea whose time has come.
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