Across the country, election officials are grappling with the confusing implications of the Trump administration’s proposed mail ballot screening plan, which would allow the Postal Service to determine which ballots can be delivered to voters.
A federal judge has halted implementation of the system, which has been challenged as unconstitutional by two dozen states. The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to intervene and allow it to go forward.
While they wait for the court’s order, local election officials are trying to sort out how they would comply with the new rules, which would require states to use federally approved envelopes with bar codes unique to each voter and upload voter data to an online Postal Service portal, which is not yet operational.
“It’s just chaos,” she added.
Some states, including North Carolina, Delaware and Alabama, have already mailed out their ballots, raising serious questions about how they could retroactively comply with the new system if it is put into place.