Statement in response to executive order to regulate ballots transmitted by the USPS

This statement is in response to breaking news. Please contact pr@rstreet.org to speak with the scholars.

In response to the Trump administration issuing a new elections-related executive order, Matt Germer, director of the R Street Institute’s governance program, and Chris McIsaac, a governance resident fellow, released the following statement:

“President Trump’s recent executive order to regulate ballots transmitted by the United States Postal Service (USPS) appears to push beyond his lawful authority, drawing the USPS into partisan conflict and reaching into areas of election administration that are rightly governed by the states.

Setting aside the legal questions, the order points down a troubling path: if the federal government can condition the delivery of mail or compel state and local data in an election context, it is not hard to imagine a future administration using similar authority to restrict the delivery of other lawful but politically sensitive materials or to justify the creation of a federal registry built on state data. That kind of precedent would be difficult to contain.

Reforms in this space require clear statutory footing and are developed through the legislative process, not unilateral executive action.”