Senator presses Postal Service official over vote-by-mail rule, warns of federal overreach

A senator on the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs pressed a Postal Service official over proposed vote-by-mail regulations, arguing the rule would effectively turn the Postal Service into a federal ballot-verification agency and could force states to hand over absentee-voter lists.

The senator said the rule, published June 2, departed from the Postal Service's tradition of neutral mail delivery and raised constitutional concerns about federal involvement in state-run elections. "What this basically rule will do is going to turn the postal service... into a ballot verification agency that's going to... control basically a master database of every American absentee voter," the senator said.

Steiner, a Postal Service official, replied that the regulations under discussion are proposed, not final, and that he would defer legal questions about constitutional authority to the courts. "Our regulations are proposed regulations, not final regulations," Steiner said. He framed the proposal as a set of operational standards intended to move ballots more efficiently and securely, citing the Service's recommendation known as Kit 600, which calls for a unique barcode and unique envelope for absentee ballots.

Steiner said many states already use practices similar to Kit 600. "California has followed it, Oregon has followed it, Arizona has followed it, Florida has followed it," he said, arguing the steps are not inherently political but are intended to ensure ballots are handled consistently and that the ballots a state believes it is sending match what is actually mailed.

The senator pressed whether the Postal Service would mail ballots if a state refused to provide the requested manifest. Steiner answered that, under the proposed regulation, the Postal Service would require the manifest: "Under our proposed regulation, no. We would tell the state that we need the manifest." The senator characterized that stance as coercive, warning it could leave voters unable to use vote-by-mail in jurisdictions that refused to turn over lists.

The exchange also included a discussion of a recent Maryland printing error that the senator said would not have been fixed by the proposed rule, and a broader warning that collecting centralized voter information could raise risks if shared with other federal agencies. The senator urged protection of voter rolls and insisted states must retain control over administering elections.

Steiner closed by reiterating the Postal Service's mission: "All we do is deliver mail. We're trying to deliver it securely, efficiently, and accurately." The proposed regulation remains a proposal and is not final; legal questions about its scope and constitutionality were identified in the hearing as matters for courts or future rulemaking.

The committee directed questions and raised concerns but did not record a formal vote on the proposal during the exchange.