WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper, along with the entire Senate Democratic caucus, demanded the United States Postal Service (USPS) abandon its proposed rule to implement President Trump’s unconstitutional executive order which would force states to submit absentee voters’ information to USPS for the creation of a federal mail-in voter list.
“Ultimately, the proposed rule seeks to create a centralized national absentee voter database with individualized barcodes connected to the voters’ names under the control of the President that contains the voting information of millions of Americans,” wrote the senators. “That information would be ripe for potential abuse or improper disclosure potentially imperiling the integrity of American elections.”
Under the order, USPS could refuse to deliver ballots to voters who are not included on that list, giving the agency an unprecedented and illegal role in the administration of American elections.
In court filings, the administration has acknowledged that the Department of Homeland Security is already in discussions with USPS about potentially comparing the list to DHS datasets. The senators raised concerns that combining USPS data with unreliable federal records could lead to eligible voters being disenfranchised, or voters and election officials being unfairly targeted for investigation.
“Accordingly, we insist that the Postal Service abandon this proposed regulation and return to its core mission of providing universal postal services to every American. The Constitution and federal law demand nothing less,” the senators concluded.
Hickenlooper has fought against Trump’s illegal executive order and attacks on mail-in voting, introducing the Mail and Absentee Voter Protection Act and consistently opposing MAGA’s SAVE America Act, a thinly-veiled voter suppression bill.
Hickenlooper has been a champion for mail-in voting and expanding access to the ballot box for Coloradans. As governor, he helped create the gold standard mail-in voting system alongside Republican county clerks.
He also cosponsors several pieces of voting rights legislation, including the For the People Act, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, and the Freedom to Vote Act.
Text of the full letter is available HERE.
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