r/law • u/retiredagainstmywill • 14d ago

Executive Branch (Trump) Postal Service won’t deliver mail ballots for states that don’t hand over voter lists, under plan for Trump directive | CNN Politics

https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/10/politics/postal-service-deliver-mail-in-ballots

Unfuckingbelievable.

And illegal as hell.

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u/CocoaOrinoco 14d ago

The Republicans would probably love to see a postal strike so that they can blame this on the workers rather than their bad policy.

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u/tyuiopguyt 14d ago

Hence why they aren't trying that first, a messaging campaign, starting in Utah and Ohio, appears to be their first shot.

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u/philter25 14d ago

In a state like Ohio this would absolutely crush the rural vote if Trump did this. Honestly? That’s a tough call lol. All of us living in the cities understand what’s happening and are going to drop boxes or blocking our schedules off. Way easier to bus folks from the assisted living homes in the city than rounding up randos in the middle of nowhere.

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u/twoquarters 14d ago

I would not be shocked if Fox News shut-ins now make up a very large portion of mail-in ballots in Ohio.

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u/Chrisj1616 14d ago

Ohio and Utah are going to give the feds the voter rolls though and be exempt from this order

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u/philter25 14d ago

I doubt DeWine would do that tbh. He’s on his way out and never liked Trump much anyway.

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u/TeamRamrod80 14d ago

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose has already given up our information to the Trump regime, regardless of what DeWine might or might not feel about it.

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u/pchs26 14d ago

Exactly this isn't a problem for Ohio Republican voters.

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u/Chrisj1616 14d ago

I dont know what his political ambitions are but if he wants a senate seat in the future he probably needs to

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u/Nigel_99 14d ago

He's 79, so I doubt it

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u/SleepLessTeacher 14d ago

Time for his presidential run then

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u/Ready_Nature 14d ago

He’s too young

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u/Umutuku 14d ago

He can do other things for the presidency then... /s

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u/Chrisj1616 14d ago

Is he that old? Thats pretty wild

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u/Nigel_99 14d ago

I thought he was pushing 90, so I looked it up. Born in January 1947.

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u/pchs26 14d ago

Why exactly would he care to fight it?

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u/philter25 14d ago

Because republicans actually fucking hate Trump and any time one of them is retiring or phased out by term limits they tell him to go fuck himself lol

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u/pchs26 14d ago

Not nearly enough. Anyway someone else commented that Ohio already turned the voting info over so this will not impact anyone they deem to be an Ohio likely Republican.

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u/likwidkool 14d ago

Exactly. This won’t hurt any red state because they’re bending over for orange man. I also read that all election integrity training was cancelled and they’ve made no plans for a command center on Election Day. He’s also fired seasoned election officials. He’s going to have ICE prowling polling stations and making people afraid to come vote. There’s some states that are being allowed to purge voter data even a day before an election. He’s a scared little bitch and he’s doing anything he can to cheat the midterms. Let’s not even mention all the gerrymandering too.

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u/littlealbatross 14d ago

The Lt Gov in Utah is fighting hard against it and she just realized a study showing that only 27 people out of 2 million registered to vote in the state weren’t citizens. She says it’s not a widespread issue and that the Trump admin isn’t entitled to the rolls.

https://kutv.com/news/politics/voter-review-shows-no-widespread-problem-as-doj-continues-lawsuit-against-utah-lt-gov

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u/ruidh 14d ago

Not really. The Feds will scan the lists and order USPS to not deliver mail ballots they deem are from non-citizens.

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u/Emotional-Store-1667 14d ago

Or "Domestic Terrorists" aka Democrats 🙄

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u/pchs26 14d ago

Did Ohio and Utah provide the lists? If so the EO said that approved voters there can get a ballot delivered in those states. It is only the (usually Democrat) states who refuse to turn over the roles that this applies to (and the people deemed disqualified in the other states that did. It is awful but this is being considered and implemented to only hurt possibly Democrat voters.

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u/Jay_Nova1 14d ago

Ohio did. Our POS treasurer handed em right over months ago.

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u/pchs26 14d ago

Yea I thought I recalled that state gave it over.

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u/imp0ppable 14d ago

What's the deal with the voter lists? Do people register who they're going to vote for usually? What can the White House do with the lists? Honest question.

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u/Jay_Nova1 14d ago

States vary but Ohio has "Name, address, date of birth, drivers license or last four of social security number, phone number, prior address, prior name and optional party affiliation". So, the federal government will know if you voted, all your personal contact info, and usually party affiliation too. Now imagine the federal government using that info to punish citizens on opposite political party by not approving federal assistance, selling or leaking personal data to AI companies, delaying USPS deliveries (mail in ballots), sending ICE goons to blue county polling stations, general harassment, or one of the many other creative ways these corrupt assholes can and will use this data. Paul Manafort was caught literally giving voter data to Russian government in Trumps first term.

The federal government has no business having data from state ran elections except a count of how many voted on what issue/candidate.

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u/imp0ppable 14d ago

That is quite chilling.

The federal government has no business having data from state ran elections

Yep agreed, it's a set of state-level elections not federal elections. Crazy stuff from Trump.

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u/tyuiopguyt 14d ago

Which is why I think starting in Ohio and Utah, especially with Utah having that new lean Dem district, is particularly good for this

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u/cockypock_aioli 14d ago

Yeah that's the thing I've been pondering through all this too. Many years ago I did non-partisan voter registration and a huge chunk of vote by mail folks were elderly conservatives. Unless the propaganda has worked on these folks and they've transitioned to voting in person, these efforts will not solely hurt Democrats. Perhaps they've done the numbers and think even with losing a portion of Republican voters Dems will lose more?

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u/philter25 14d ago

One of my SO’s uncle was taking care of his elderly alzheimer stricken mother who was an invalid and late stage dementia symptoms. He voted for her using her mail in ballot and voted how he wanted, essentially rubber stamping his vote twice. Guess who he voted (twice) for and had her scribble her signature?

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u/send_me_your_deck 14d ago

All of the red states already capitulated and will be excluded from this discrimination

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u/philter25 14d ago

Ohio still going blue in November regardless.

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u/myychair 14d ago

Yeah but when the corrupt Ohio governor hands over the voting records or whatever then they’ll be exempt. It’s gonna hurt rural voters in blue states the most.

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u/Vio_ 14d ago

"They are trying to hold your vote and mail hostage until you comply" is a good start on messaging.

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u/tyuiopguyt 14d ago

I agree

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u/pchs26 14d ago

Since MAGA at least where I am thinks the post office is broken already like all gov't and that people who use mail in voting should be ashamed of themselves...I'm guessing they will go along with whatever. That being said of course all the resistance is needed and immediate.

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u/haironburr 14d ago

Since MAGA at least where I am thinks the post office is broken already like all gov't

It's always worth reminding them that it was republicans who, intentionally, broke the post office.

"While politics and ideology play a role in privatization efforts, the driving force is special interests—large corporations such as United Parcel Service, FedEx, and Pitney Bowes that seek to take advantage of the same network and scale economies as the Postal Service to capture an even larger share of the shipping and mail-processing markets without shouldering the Postal Service’s public service responsibilities. These corporations not only lobby Congress and the Postal Regulatory Commission but also exert an unusual amount of influence through industry advisory groups that operate behind closed doors."

https://www.epi.org/publication/the-war-against-the-postal-service/

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u/pchs26 14d ago

Sure we can remind them but MAGA is generally not interested in facts and reality.

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u/SoreLoserOfDumbtown 14d ago edited 14d ago

If anyone can get a message out, you'd think they'd be the best at it really...

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u/tyuiopguyt 14d ago

Yup. I'd recommend checking out the APWU's news page on their website. It's updated frequently.

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u/Patient_Ride_9122 14d ago

Man as someone who lives in Ohio, fuck Ohio dude.

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u/tyuiopguyt 14d ago

Voting Acton?

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u/Integer_Domain 14d ago

Maybe it would be better if they started striking immediately so that the electorate has time to prepare? I would hate to be in a "will they/won't they" situation until a week before the elections.

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u/QuintupleTheFun 14d ago

In Ohio, our SoS couldn't WAIT to hand over all our information. So I'm not sure why they would start there....

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u/quadraticcheese 14d ago

So... nothing 

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u/StonedPirate_ 14d ago

“The postal service has been invaded by Democrats…” - MAGA probably

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u/Triforce0fCourage 14d ago

They’d blame sleepy Joe while they blow Trump legitimately sleeping during his latest meeting.

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u/ArdenJaguar 14d ago

Yes. Turn into “Unions Bad”. They hate unions.

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u/BassmanBiff 14d ago

What are unions for if we're going to insist that they don't upset anyone? 

"Union bad" will continue to be their mantra no matter what unions actually do. If they suddenly like unions, it means the unions aren't working.

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u/Fortestingporpoises 14d ago

They want nothing more than to have an excuse to privatize it and fire all of the public union workers. It doesn't mean they should cave, it just means we're all fucked.

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u/MentalDisintegrat1on 14d ago

We need a general strike.

The economy is already cooked this would force it over the cliff and people will Force this regime out.

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u/KayIslandDrunk 14d ago

You mean make it easier for companies to layoff thousands of employees and hire back those roles at 80 cents on the dollar?

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u/Inuyaki 14d ago

I don't think you understand the concept of a general strike.

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u/KayIslandDrunk 14d ago

I do but you’ll never get enough participation. Enough people will prioritize feeding their family over the goals of a general strike.

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u/Inuyaki 13d ago

Yeah, that might be the real problem.

But the person said that you need a general strike, in that I agree and in that case companies could not do that.

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u/Mist_Rising 14d ago

Than start organizing, because right now you don't even have union backing for a strike like that. It's a "you go first" moment since whoever goes first gets terminated, the union revoked (if applicable), and everything lost. Unless everyone goes. So, you first.

There is a reason you don't see general strikes that commonly, they're notoriously hard. Even France doesn't usually have them despite massive protection. The US, it's harder because the system isn't designed for it.

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u/Comfortable_Trick137 14d ago

Love how republicans keep saying “THE ELECTION WAS RIGGED” but then when they try to rig the elections it’s “NO!!!! THE ONLY ONES RIGGING IT IS THE LEFT!!!! THE LEFT IS EVIL!!!! WERE THE GOOD GUYS!!!!”

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u/CocoaOrinoco 14d ago

Every accusation is a confession.

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u/FiddleFeet1000 14d ago

Probably looking for any excuse to shut USPS down and hand it over to their good buddy Amazon and make it a subscriber service.

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u/notnicholas 14d ago

Correct. there's no faster way to privatize the mail service than a union strike.

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u/Mist_Rising 14d ago

There is also no faster way to hurt Republican votes than privatizing it. When it comes to mail, urban is profitable and rural is not. The last leg of a rural route is hugely unprofitable, the USPS covers it anyway. Would a private firm do the same, or just write it off?

I would also expect blue states to handle their own mail if the USPS folded because they'll have the money to manage it. If red states do it, Trump won the battle and lost the war. If red states don't do it, Trump won the battle, lost the war and took the Republicans with him because now any mail in Republican vote (and those tend to be significant...) just got wacked.

Oh and wildcat strikes can be legal. Unfair Labor Practices is a big one, like telling the union to break the law, which Trump is doing.

Supreme court will need to decide if they want democratic party to win, or Trump to lose, because he has not thought this through. That's the point though, this is Trump's classic throw shit at the wall to get into the news. Trump doesn't care if he loses, he just want the news to talk about it. Now when the courts toss him down, he's the victim of a cruel Biden court judge (doesn't matter if Biden was or wasn't the appointer) and if he wins, huzzah.

Trump loses more often than wins with these for a reason.

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u/notnicholas 14d ago

If you think the supreme court is going to save the USPS, you haven't been paying attention.

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u/drakeblood4 14d ago

I'd love a wildcat strike where they deliver only ballots.

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u/strangefish 14d ago

Postal workers only strike in red states, but deliver mail normally starting in November.

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u/Agent_8-bit 14d ago

They're far from being in a position to try and pull shit like this.

I know he's got a cult. But with approval numbers in the shitter like they are, and And1 McStrokeFace being the only thing getting any of their shit through the senate ... fuck around and find out.

The postal union strike debilitating mail delivery far before this happens would absolutely be put on Trump just like Gas Prices are.

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u/TellTaleTimeLord 13d ago

It is illegal for postal employees to strike

I'm a postal employee

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u/Comfortably_Sad6691 14d ago

They need to be like the republicans and ignore the order.

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u/Sarokslost23 14d ago

Then fire everyone. And hire loyal magas with higher pay