Republican attorneys general in several states are backing President Trump’s push for stricter mail‑voting rules, filing lawsuits that ask courts to clear the administration’s proposed USPS mandates. The effort is being led by the offices of Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, both close allies of the administration.
Local officials say the plan is unworkable
Election officials in at least half of the states involved told CNN they lack the time, staff and resources to meet the new requirements. The rules would require thousands of ballot envelopes to be replaced with unique bar‑codes and a major reallocation of staff to submit voter lists to the Postal Service.
In Missouri, clerk Kurt Bahr warned that the changes would hurt Republican‑leaning counties more than Democratic ones. “I don’t think our secretary of state or our president are really understanding … this hurts our Republican counties a lot more than it hurts our blue counties,” he said.
Several Missouri counties already use vendors that can print the required bar‑coded envelopes, but the sole vendor capable of handling the volume has stopped taking new clients for the midterms. County clerks fear they would have to drive absentee ballots to voters on the permanent disability list, and still would be unable to serve voters who are out of the county on Election Day.
In Texas, both large and small counties have filed briefs stating the rules would be impossible to implement this year. Texas officials have not responded to inquiries.
Support from the Trump administration
Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins said he “believes” implementation is possible, while the Missouri AG’s office expressed support for the “commonsense reforms to improve the integrity of mail voting.” South Dakota and Kansas secretaries of state, also Republicans, signed an amicus brief backing the effort.
South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley said the directives would help prevent mail‑in ballots from being sent to illegal immigrants or unregistered voters.
Supreme Court decision pending
The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule in the coming days on whether to allow the Trump‑backed plan for the midterms. Democratic‑led states and the District of Columbia have argued the rules would cause chaos and disenfranchise voters.
Election scholars note that many urban counties, which tend to vote Democratic, already meet the barcode requirements, while rural Republican counties face the steepest hurdles. “They’re really just being supportive of the president – being along for the ride for whatever happens at this point,” said Notre Dame elections law professor Derek Muller.
Original reporting: KRDO (Colorado Springs metro) — read the source article.
