Postmaster General David Steiner confirmed the federal government, through the U.S. Postal Service, will provide states with information on who is an eligible voter and then refuse to mail ballots to those it deems ineligible. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo
June 25 (UPI) -- A federal judge barred the U.S. Postal Service from refusing to mail ballots in states that haven't turned over their registered voter rolls, one day after the postmaster general testified before a Senate committee.
The Postal Service doesn't have the constitutional authority to administer elections and hasn't been given the power by Congress to create binding regulations on voting by mail, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani said in the decision.
The proposed rule said that states would have to give the Postal Service the names, addresses and ballot barcode numbers for the people who are to get ballots in the mail. The proposal follows President Donald Trump's executive order from March 31 that requires the federal government to compile state citizenship lists and for the Postal Service to refuse to mail ballots to those the federal government has determined are ineligible to vote.
Talwani also said the timing of the executive order made it impossible for the Postal Service to propose the rule through the proper channels. It offers "no allowance for Congress' mandated procedure regarding USPS rulemaking."
