More than 20 Democratic-led states told the court the ballot-verification system cannot be running before November. The whistleblower's attorney says USPS records could back the claim that the rollout went untested. To comply, the states said, they would have to redesign envelopes and win USPS approval. They would also have to meet new barcode standards, upload voter data and retrain officials. That timetable would be "impossible" in some states and "chaos" in others. Republican backers said the rules mostly make existing USPS advice mandatory.
A federal judge left Trump's mail-ballot verification order blocked on Aug. 31, finding the Postal Service likely had no authority to impose the rule, and set a Sept. 3 hearing on a longer freeze. On Sept. 1 a whistleblower disclosure released by Richard Blumenthal (Sen-D Connecticut) said USPS built the verification portal in three months and never tested it before rollout.