Archive · 18 Sep 2026
Postal Service Halts System Tied to Trump Mail Voting Effort
The Postal Service had been working on a computer system connected to a voting plan.
The plan came from an executive order signed by Donald Trump in March.
Several government agencies were supposed to create lists showing voters’ state citizenship status.
Those lists would have gone to an online Postal Service portal.
The system could have allowed mail ballots to be sent only to voters who passed the review.
The Postal Service chief said work on the system has stopped.
He said he knew about the order about a month before it was announced.
He also said his main focus was figuring out how to carry it out, not debating whether the policy was good or bad.
The Postal Service chief said work stopped on a computer system tied to Donald Trump’s effort to limit mail voting.
Trump’s March executive order directed federal agencies to develop state citizenship lists.
The lists would have been delivered to an online Postal Service portal.
The system would have allowed mail ballots to be sent only to voters cleared through the process.
Postal Service chief Steiner said he learned about the order roughly a month before its release and focused on implementation rather than its merits.
- Who
- The United States Postal Service, its chief Steiner, Donald Trump, and federal agencies involved in the order.
- What
- Work stopped on a computer system intended to support a process for checking voters before sending mail ballots.
- When
- The executive order was signed in March; Steiner said he learned about it roughly one month before it was unveiled.
- Where
- The system involved an online portal at the United States Postal Service.
- Why
- The system was intended to receive state citizenship lists and restrict mail-ballot delivery to voters cleared through the process.
- Executive order
- Signed by Donald Trump in March.
- Planned lists
- Federal agencies were directed to develop state citizenship lists.
- Online portal
- The lists would have been delivered to a portal at the United States Postal Service.
- Ballot process
- Mail ballots would have been sent only to voters cleared through the process.
- Current status
- Work on the computer system has stopped.
- Steiner’s role
- He said his focus was on implementation rather than the policy’s merits.