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A federal whistleblower has come forward with serious concerns about a new mail-in ballot verification system set to launch at the United States Postal Service just weeks before the midterm elections. According to a letter released by Senator Richard Blumenthal, the Trump administration’s initiative would grant USPS unprecedented authority to reject ballots that state election officials have approved for mailing.
The whistleblower raises critical questions about the system’s readiness for deployment. The verification platform was developed in approximately three months and remains untested, according to the disclosure. The design includes a particularly problematic feature: if any single ballot in a large batch fails verification, the entire batch faces rejection. The whistleblower warns this could result in thousands of ballots being rejected simultaneously due to minor discrepancies, forcing states to retrieve and correct ballots while elections officials and voters lack clear procedures to challenge erroneous rejections.
A White House spokesperson defended the initiative, stating that the verification process mirrors routine postal procedures already in use. However, officials did not respond to questions about notification procedures for rejected ballots or mechanisms for voters to contest rejections. The concerns arrive as the Supreme Court previously allowed the administration to implement the ballot restrictions outlined in a March executive order.
Election fraud occurs at exceedingly low rates in the United States. The initiative affects all voters relying on mail ballots, including significant portions of registered Republicans who regularly use this voting method.
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Originally reported by Rollingstone →
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