Postal Whistleblower Says the Mail-Ballot System Trump Ordered Was Built in Weeks and Would Reject 10,000 Ballots Over One Bad Barcode

A whistleblower complaint made public Sept. 1 alleges the Postal Service built the ballot-verification portal required by Trump's March executive order through a "rushed, chaotic, and fundamentally flawed process." The complaint, sent to Sen. Richard Blumenthal's office, says the agency did not start in earnest until June, leaving under three months for a system that would normally take nine to 12 months, and that a mailing of 10,000 ballots would be rejected if one barcode failed to scan. It also alleges staff were told to keep building despite court orders blocking the order.

The order would give the Postal Service an unprecedented role in deciding which voters receive mail ballots, and the disclosure goes to whether the machinery behind it could work at all.

The White House disputed the allegations, calling the software neither complex nor unusual for the agency. The Postal Service said it is reviewing Blumenthal's letter. An Aug. 31 court order lets the government keep building the portal so long as states need not participate.