Lawmaker says proposed mail-in voting rule risks federal overreach

A lawmaker told the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs that a newly published Postal Service proposed rule and a related presidential executive order could improperly expand the agency’s role in election administration.

The speaker said the president’s March executive order directs the Postal Service to create a ‘‘new mail-in absentee participation list’’ that the proposed regulation would use to verify which voters are eligible to receive and cast ballots through the mail. The lawmaker warned that, under the proposed approach, states would be required to submit absentee voters to a national database controlled by the Postal Service and comply with federal ballot mail-in requirements or risk being prohibited from using mail-in voting in their elections.

The lawmaker called the proposal ‘‘an unconstitutional subversion of the postal service’s duty’’ and urged the Postal Service to abandon the regulation. They noted that USPS has traditionally described its role as transmitting mail and not administering elections and cited 2024 deliveries of almost 100 million ballots as evidence of the Service’s long-standing role in delivering absentee ballots.

The hearing excerpt records no formal response from USPS in this transcript. The lawmaker said they led the Democratic caucus in urging the Postal Service to rescind the proposed rule and return to its core mission of delivering mail.