U.S. Postal Service officials were set to meet publicly with Washington state lawmakers Monday as the agency considers a sweeping rule change to add federal oversight to mail-in voting.
But the Postal Service representatives canceled just hours before they were set to appear before a state House panel, said the committee’s chair, Rep. Sharlett Mena, D-Tacoma. Mena said the federal officials stated they’d “improperly confirmed” participation in the meeting.
The Postal Service acknowledged an inquiry about the situation from the Standard, but didn’t immediately provide comment.
The rule proposed this month would require state election officials to share with the Postal Service a list of mail-in voters. It also sets new conditions for states to send ballots via mail, including design of the envelopes.
“States would retain full control over who would (or would not) be able to vote by mail in federal elections within each state,” the rule says.
This is the latest in Trump’s long-running crusade against mail-in ballots.
Democrats, who in other states more often vote by mail than Republicans, see it as an intrusion on elections, which are run by states. Critics of the plan also say adopting the changes so close to the November elections could cause chaos.
Proponents of the new rule say it would help improve integrity and trust in elections.
There’s no evidence of widespread voter fraud in Washington.
The Washington Legislature established vote-by-mail as an option for all elections in 2005. By 2011, 38 of 39 counties in the state had switched to this system, and the Legislature adopted it as a statewide requirement.
Secretary of State Steve Hobbs called the new federal proposal “an unnecessary rule” that “does nothing to provide security in our elections.”
“Once again, we’re seeing federal overreach that threatens to undermine the rights of eligible voters and override states’ authority over elections,” Hobbs said in a statement earlier this month. “This is clearly another attempt by the Trump administration to exercise authority they don’t have.”
Who the fuck knows what’s going to happen anymore, but I don’t really think they’re going to be able to not deliver mail-in ballots. The Postal Workers Union has already said they do not care what the Postmaster General or anyone else says, they will be delivering ballots. States run their elections, if the states also tell Washington to kick rocks, there’s not much they can do besides firing all the postal workers and good fucking luck canning an incredibly powerful union with multiple additional legal protections that other unions don’t have