Trump order would force mail carriers to police voter eligibility: 'It'll be a disaster'

President Donald Trump is forcing mail carriers to play a complicated – and possibly unlawful – role in his war on mail-in voting.

The 79-year-old president issued a March executive order that would transform the U.S. Postal Service into an election enforcement agency, tasking postal workers with policing voter eligibility for mail-in ballots — a move that has alarmed postal unions, election officials and voting-rights advocates amid legal challenges and practical concerns about implementation, reported CNN.

“If the Postal Service decides to do this, it will be a disaster,” former USPS Board of Governors Chair S. David Fineman told CNN. “They don’t have the resources to build this or the administrative infrastructure to do it.”

The order directs the federal government to create "state citizenship lists" using Social Security and immigration records to determine mail-in voter eligibility, and USPS would then work with states to identify approved voters and reject ballots from anyone not on those lists, effectively making mail carriers responsible for voter verification despite no evidence of widespread mail-voting fraud.

Voting-rights lawyers argue it transforms "USPS into a gatekeeper of voter eligibility" when the Constitution grants states control over election administration, and election law experts predict the order will be struck down, noting Trump's previous voting executive order mandating proof-of-citizenship requirements was already blocked by courts.

Postal unions have voiced strong opposition. National Association of Letter Carriers President Brian Renfroe told CNN: "We are frankly very skeptical about our ability to even do this effectively" and expressed concern about politicizing the agency.

American Postal Workers Union President Jonathan Smith stated bluntly: "It is not a postal worker's responsibility to verify who can vote and who can't vote."

The order creates potential criminal liability for postal workers delivering ballots deemed ineligible by federal authorities — a prospect alarming to unions representing mail carriers – and the administration has not specified who would fund this new workload or clarify implementation details.

Current and former election officials warn the order clashes with state law requiring voter lists 60 days before elections, well before many states allow voter registration or ballot requests. Former Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar said the provision would "put extra burdens on election officials with, of course, no funding, no infrastructure and no support."

The Postal Service finds itself in a precarious position. Announcing a nearly $2 billion quarterly loss, USPS warned it could exhaust funds within a year without legislative help, and the agency desperately needs cooperation from Congress and the administration for financial restructuring, creating vulnerability to pressure regarding the executive order.

Postmaster General David Steiner confirmed USPS is "working on a draft of a proposed rule," due by May's end. One option under discussion would require states to provide voter lists when submitting ballots, keeping USPS in its traditional delivery role. However, agency lawyers question whether USPS has legal authority to verify ballots against voter lists.

Democratic-led states and voting-rights groups are pursuing legal challenges, with a district court hearing scheduled before the May deadline. Former USPS board officials suggest the independent agency could simply refuse implementation, though it has not done so publicly.

Trump has nominated four candidates to the USPS board, potentially reshaping it to align with his agenda.