‘Chaos and confusion’: Delaware lawmakers warn Trump’s mail ballot order could disenfranchise voters

What questions do you have about the 2026 elections? What major issues do you want candidates to address? Let us know.

Possible last-minute restrictions on the nationwide delivery of mail ballots could disproportionately impact Delaware Democratic voters in November’s midterm elections.

Members of the state’s Congressional delegation say if a U.S. Postal Service rule goes into effect, it could mean some votes might not be counted.

The finalized U.S. Postal Service rule mandates that states adopt a nationwide uniform envelope for mail ballots and provide USPS with a list of eligible voters. It directly applies to federal general elections where a candidate is campaigning for national office. While it does not apply to elections involving only state or local offices, state and local officials could be indirectly impacted by having to devote resources to comply with the new requirements.

President Donald Trump directed the postal service to develop the rule in a March executive order.

Races on the ballot for Delaware’s general election include the seats currently occupied by Democrats U.S. Sen. Chris Coons and U.S. Rep. Sarah McBride.

Because the House and Senate are so narrowly divided, every race matters. McBride is one of 212 Democrats in the U.S. House, compared to 218 Republicans and one independent. There are four vacant seats.

On the Senate side, Coons is one of 45 Democrats versus 53 Republicans. The Senate has two independents, who caucus with the Democrats.

Most recent polls point to Democrats regaining the majority in both the U.S. House and Senate.

In statements to WHYY News condemning the Trump administration’s moves to limit who can vote by mail, both McBride and Coons highlighted the president’s own history of using mail ballots.

“This is the latest egregious step — and, frankly, a desperate one — in this administration’s all-out assault on free and fair elections,” McBride said in an emailed statement. “Voting by mail is a safe, secure, and trusted way for thousands of Delawareans to exercise their fundamental right to vote — one that the president himself has used multiple times.”

While Trump has claimed that there is widespread voting by mail by non-citizens, Coons said that’s not true.

Data shows that voting by noncitizens is extremely rare, and a 1996 law makes it a felony, with the possibility of deportation.

“This is a solution in search of a problem that may well cause chaos for those who rely on vote by mail,” Coons said.

Democrats could be the most impacted by postal regulation

Delaware allows absentee voting for primary, general and special elections.

The post office rule doesn’t differentiate between mail and absentee ballots. The difference between the two is that absentee voters must request a ballot and give an allowed excuse to justify why they cannot vote in person on Election Day.

According to the Delaware Department of Elections, the majority of the more than 38,600 residents who voted absentee in 2024 were Democrats. Democrats accounted for over 22,000 absentee voters, compared to just over 9,000 Republicans and 6,323 unaffiliated voters.

Election data also shows that absentee voters across all party lines heavily relied on the postal service to return their absentee ballots. Of the 38,000 mail ballots cast in 2024, 31,467 were sent through the mail.

Delaware is part of ongoing lawsuit challenging postal rule

More than 20 Democratic attorneys general, including Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings, filed a new lawsuit last week against the Postal Service to bar its implementation. Her office declined to comment on the litigation.

Jennings and the other state attorneys general have so far secured a temporary stay in the case, as have the League of Women Voters in a similar lawsuit.

The U.S. Department of Justice is appealing and the issue could land back in the U.S. Supreme Court, which previously decided the postal rule could move forward but did not rule on the case’s merits.

Whistleblower report warns of rejected ballots

While the litigation continues in the courts, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., released a report Tuesday from a whistleblower that accuses the USPS of a “secretive” rush to implement the rule despite court orders blocking those efforts.

McBride said federal officials were trying to inject “chaos and confusion.”

“Voters should not have to wonder whether chaos and confusion deliberately created to undermine our elections will interfere with their ability to cast their ballots,” she said. “[Trump’s] administration is trying to rush through an illegal, untested system that could arbitrarily invalidate tens of thousands of mail-in ballots across the country.”

Blumenthal highlighted in his letter to the post master general the allegation from the whistleblower that if just one ballot submitted to USPS in a large-volume batch could not be verified against its database, “all ballots in that batch will be rejected.”

U.S. Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del., serves on the election security taskforce in the Senate.

“We’re keeping a watchful eye on this serious whistleblower complaint and preparing diligently to fortify our Democratic process,” she said in a statement to WHYY News. “Our goal is to protect this election before the election happens, during the election and after the election.”

Delaware elections spokesperson Cathleen Hartsky-Carter said agency officials are limited in what they can say due to the ongoing litigation, but are closely watching the situation.

“The Department of Elections is keeping apprised of the latest updates on the status of the litigation and is preparing for its potential impact on Delaware voters if the USPS rule is ultimately upheld,” she said in a statement. “The department is prepared to notify voters immediately of any changes to the absentee voting process and next steps.”

Meanwhile, the Delaware Court of Chancery is holding a hearing Friday on a complaint filed by Senate Minority Leader Gerald Hocker, R-Ocean View, that argues the state’s permanent absentee voting statutes violate the Delaware Constitution.

A similar complaint by Hocker in 2024 was dismissed by the state Supreme Court because it ruled he lacked standing to sue. Hocker, who is running for reelection this year, asserts that as both a candidate and voter, he would be injured if ineligible voters were allowed to vote.