Is this key service about to save Trump from a midterms mauling? Opinion by Thom Hartmann

[B.See]

Some may remember how, in May 2020, a USPS board of governors, all hand picked by Donald Trump, appointed Trump donor/lackey Louis DeJoy, a person with ZERO experience, as Postmaster General. The latter, who then immediately set about trying to sabotage the service via the trashing of over 600 high speed mail sorting machines, presided over the mass removal of mailboxes, displaced or fired some 20 plus senior USPS officials, and who attempted to send out false and misleading vote-by-mail information to Colorado residents - among a trove of other highly questionable acts. To many the mission was obvious: sabotage the postal service before the 2020 elections.

But for one, the plot was hatched far too late. Also, it had resulted in a lot of blowback, investigations, suits and such, so DeJoy had to backtrack on most all of it. And subsequently, throughout the Biden PRESIDENCY, Dejoy pretty much laid low, was even cooperative in several instances, though maybe that was because of a pesky little investigation into his pressuring postal workers into donating to Republicans... allegedly. (Source: Wikipedia)

Anywho, in March 2025, the Trump lackey who once said he planned on being around for a long time had upped and resigned. Maybe because of the (claimed) intrusion by Eloon's DOGE hacks. Or maybe because Trump expected more sabotage of him. Who knows?

Enter David Steiner, another appointee, hand picked by Trump, and just in time for the midterms. What could possibly go wrong??

Is this key service about to save Trump from a midterms mauling? Op-ed by Thom Hartmann - Rawstory

Just a week ago, Trump’s Postal Service changed the rules about getting your mail-in ballot postmarked so it’ll be counted. Instead of postmarking letters when they’re received, Post Offices will now postmark them when they get “processed,” which may happen days later.

In the 2024 presidential election, the feds estimated that around 104,000 mail-in ballots nationwide weren’t counted because they were postmarked late; with this change, the number this fall and for 2028 could be in the millions.

Meanwhile, Republican secretaries of state are enthusiastically purging voters from the rolls as they get ready for this fall. Remember, reporter and economist Greg Palast found, using official federal and state numbers, that in 2024:

“Trump lost. That is, if all legal voters were allowed to vote, if all legal ballots were counted, Trump would have lost the states of Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Georgia. Vice-President Kamala Harris would have won the Presidency with 286 electoral votes."

Mr. Hartmann goes on to give us a WHOLE LOT of additional information on the Republican Attack On the Right to Vote - of which I'd been writing for a decade now.

Including how, if not for the mass purge of voters of colour, mass disqualifications of provisional and mail-in ballots, and vigilante challenges in swing states, Kamala would've topped Trump’s popular vote tally by 1.2 million.”

And how millions of voters are being purged Red and Blue state rolls with significant minority populations, as we speak.

How Republican secretaries of state can eliminate our right to vote without our even knowing.

and how they've passed voter suppression laws in 18 states (with plans for MUCH more), and changed laws in states like Georgia and elsewhere that allows them to TOSS THE VOTE of ENTIRE DISTRICTS, even cities, if THEY don’t like the results.

“Of all the dirty tricks”: USPS quietly changed what a postmark means. Voting advocates are alarmed- Daily Dot “Seems specifically designed to break mail-in voting.”

Experts are advising people to ensure an accurate postmark by traveling to the post office and asking them to mark it right there. You may even need to pay extra for a Certificate of Mailing that proves when you mailed it.

This, as always, poses extra challenges for disabled, elderly, and impoverished Americans. Not everyone can just hop in the car and head to the local USPS branch. Even among those who can, this creates an extra barrier in between them and optional but very important acts.

Especially amid ongoing attacks on mail-in ballots by the Trump administration, critics expressed certainty that this is another attack on voting rights.

“They know they won’t win midterms without cheating”

[AZJonnie]

1. I agree about the other points Thom is making but not about this postmarking thing

What, did people think the mail carriers carry around postmarking devices and they sit and stamp each post as they put them into the bin, out by the curb? Lol, no. Your mail has never been postmarked when it is "received", and It has always been the case that you can't really depend on any given day being the day your post is 'postmarked'. Post-marking is part of "processing", not "receiving", inherently. And I believe this is not a change in procedure, it's a clarification.

Everything else he's on about is 2 to 3-alarm concerns, but this? Send your ballot earlier, like you've always been told to. Get the word out that people need to really send things in early. This cannot be a reason we lose in 2026.

[littlemissmartypants]

4. Do you now or have you ever worked for the USPS?

[AZJonnie]

6. No but I've sent and received a lot of mail over the years, known when things were sent

and noted when they were postmarked, etc. Enough to know there's no way people should have the expectation that something you put in your mailbox in front of your house is going to be postmarked on that day, and I've even seen times where the postmark date was closer to the delivery day than the day I mailed it. I can't imagine anyone is out in the USA thinking the postmark IS the day that any USPS worker took physical custody (i.e. received) their post, with any sort of certainty. It is VERY often not that exact day, and frankly everyone should know this, but if they don't we need to teach EVERYONE

As an aside, I'd suspect if USPS is going to get more lackadaisical about it (which I'm not convinced they're saying they are here but if someone knows for a fact otherwise, I'm all ears!), it's most likely because it's cheaper for them, being less 'steps' in the process.

Most importantly like I say, the other horrors described by the story here are more menacing/a bigger concern. We can get around this postmark problem here just by being personally responsible and sending our ballots in early. MHO, fwiw

[littlemissmartypants]

7. Announcement by USPS via AARP article:

How USPS Postmark Change Could Affect Mail Deadlines
Dates on mail now reflect when it’s processed by the Postal Service, not when it’s dropped off
By Aaron Kassraie

Published December 31, 2025

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) implemented new procedures for dating mail on Dec. 24, postmarking letters and packages with the date they are processed at a postal facility rather than when they are dropped off in a mailbox — a shift that could affect whether time-sensitive mail is considered on time. 

The USPS says the change is aimed at meeting strategic goals to cut costs and streamline mail processing by concentrating it in a smaller number of facilities. But it could create real challenges for consumers dealing with deadline-driven mail matters this tax season and beyond, from IRS filings and Medicare documents to mail-in ballots and government benefit notices.

Date differences between when a piece of mail is dropped off by the sender and when it is processed and postmarked are likely to “become more common” as the changes roll out, according to USPS.

That means a tax return dropped in a big blue mailbox on April 15 or a vote-by-mail ballot sent on Election Day could still be marked late — risking IRS penalties or a rejected vote — because USPS now postmarks when mail is processed rather than when it is sent. 
How to ensure mail is dated correctly...snip...
https://www.aarp.org/government-elections/usps-postmark-changes/

[B.See]

8. Thanks for 'splaining' it LMSP.

[littlemissmartypants]

9. My pleasure, B.See. Thanks for initiating the discussion. ❤️

[oasis]

2. Our "mainstream media" should look into this

and report to the American public .

[Historic NY]

3. Do not depend on the US Postal Service to get your ballot to the election board.

The already are throttling mail service. If you are depending that are going to stamp it with the correct date forget about it,

[littlemissmartypants]

5. You can request a hand stamp if you actually go into the post office and request it. ....

I don't think that's the primary point here, however.

The point is that it's becoming more and more difficult to exercise the right to vote. Which too many people blow off as it is. Combine apathy with barriers, and more and more citizens are bound to lose interest.

It should be getting easier, not harder, to vote.

But Republicans are control freaks who have to manipulate everything to get their own way.

They act like a bunch of spoiled brats. Only with power and money and a complete lack of morality.

[B.See]

10. Thanks again. Agree 1000 percent.

Seems some can't (won't) grasp what MAGA/Repugs are doing / trying to do, behind closed doors and even right under our noses.

Don't look up.