WASHINGTON — The U.S. Postal Service has issued a new rule that could impact Minnesota’s mail-in and absentee ballots ahead of this year’s midterm election.
It offers states a dire choice: give the USPS lists of all voters who would receive mail ballots or risk losing the ability to mail those ballots.
More than 1.3 million Minnesotans voted by mail or absentee ballot in the 2024 election, according to the Minnesota Secretary of State’s office.
The proposed rule by the independent government agency also lays out other new conditions that states would have to meet to send ballots through the mail and gives the USPS unprecedented authority over federal elections.
The postal service issued the rule in response to a directive President Donald Trump issued March 31 because of what the president insists — without proof — is widespread fraud in American elections.
Related: Postal workers rally to raise alarm about Trump plans to privatize postal service
“To enhance election integrity via the United States Mail, additional measures are necessary,” Trump’s executive order said.
It said the Department of Homeland Security would provide states with a “Citizenship List” of “individuals confirmed to be United States citizens who will be above the age of 18 at the time of an upcoming Federal election and who maintain a residence in the subject State.”
But the USPS rule would seem to give states more leeway, leaving states in charge of deciding which voters end up on the lists submitted to the agency through “State-Specific Participation Lists.”
“Under this proposal, states would retain full control over who would (or would not) be able to vote by mail in federal elections within each state,” the proposed rule says.
Trump’s executive order also calls for “secure ballot envelope identifiers,” such as bar codes, on ballots and envelopes.
The USPS rule would require the identifying bar codes.
Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, who has resisted Trump administration requests for information about state voters, said the president does not have the authority to make unilateral changes to election laws.
“The U.S. Constitution gives states and Congress the responsibility to make laws on elections,” he said in a statement. “Our office has helped stop his actions before and we are now exploring our legal options to stop this new order from taking effect.
Simon also said that voting by mail is secure and trustworthy and that millions of Minnesotans have used this service for decades.
Minnesota is also among 23 Democratic states that are suing Trump and his administration to block any new rule by the postal service regarding mail in ballots. Like Simon, the states say the president has no authority to do what he has told the USPS to do.
“The Constitution assigns primary responsibility for federal elections to the States, subject only to preemption by Congress,” their lawsuit said.
The new mail-in voting rules would not apply to primary elections, which Trump’s executive order concedes are the responsibility of state parties. They would, however, apply to all other federal elections.
GOP lawmakers call for Walz, Ellison to resign
Rep. Tom Emmer, R-6th District; Pete Stauber, R-8th District; Michelle Fischbach, R-7th District; and Brad Finstad, R-1st District, were again united this week in backing a Trump initiative when they called for the resignation of Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison.
The lawmakers sent a letter this week to the Democratic officials that said “Minnesotans have endured your failures for far too long.”
“As members of the Minnesota Republican delegation, we believe the confidence necessary to effectively govern has been irreparably damaged,” the letter said. “We therefore urge you to resign from office immediately. Minnesota deserves leadership that will restore accountability, rebuild public trust, and ensure that taxpayer dollars are protected from waste, fraud, and abuse.”
The calls for the resignation of these top Democratic state officials came after the release of a report by the GOP-led House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on fraud in Minnesota’s social service programs that accused Walz and Ellison of looking the other way.
Armed with the report, which a Walz spokesman called a “joke” and Ellison a “partisan” stunt, Vice President JD Vance referred it to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution.
But don’t expect Walz or Ellison to abandon their offices.
“Vice President Vance’s referral is a partisan stunt from an administration that uses the machinery of government to target its perceived opponents while extending leniency to those aligned with its interests,” Ellison said.
Minnesota, and especially its Democratic officials and federal lawmakers, have become a punching bag for Trump and his MAGA followers.
Related: Minnesota’s elections should be run in Minnesota
Finstad, who is facing a tougher-than-expected challenge from Democrat Jake Johnson and who needs to motivate the GOP base, was the lead on the letter demanding the resignations of Walz and Ellison.
If the Justice Department decides to file criminal charges against Walz, it would be the second case federal law enforcement officials have opened on the governor.
The DOJ has already opened criminal probes into the state’s Democratic leadership — including Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey — accusing them of impeding federal immigration actions.
In other news:
▪️Reporter Shadi Bushra wrote about a “lottery” known as the “Refugee Roulette” in which the state’s Russian immigrants are winners even as those from other countries now have little chance of a successful application for asylum.
▪️State Government reporter Matthew Blake has a story about how the state is scrambling to recertify more than 3,400 Medicaid providers who were disenrolled because they serve in programs that are at high risk of fraud.
▪️Vice President JD Vance asked the Justice Department to investigate Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison following the release of a scathing report by the House Oversight and Government Affairs Committee. That panel is led by Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., one of Trump’s fiercest attack dogs on Capitol Hill.
▪️Greater Minnesota reporter Brian Arola wrote that while the Hennepin County Medical Center emerged from the legislative session as an obvious winner, Greater Minnesota hospitals have not been as lucky as Medicaid dollars shrink and they face other financial pain.
Please keep your comments, and any questions, coming. I’ll try my best to respond. Please contact me at aradelat@minnpost.com.
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