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What’s Happening with Mail-In Ballots?
The Trump administration is leveraging multiple federal agencies to investigate alleged voter fraud and impose new voting restrictions, creating a framework to dispute midterm election results if they do not favor Republicans.
Briefed in the Morning News edition of Tuesday, 15 September 2026
What was discussed
Trump administration investigates alleged voter fraud1:20
- Gabe Cohenassertion
The administration has tapped a wide range of agencies to prove Trump's claim of widespread election fraud and noncitizen voting. DHS reassigned agents to chase voter fraud cases, but those efforts have produced very few prosecutions. The administration claimed to find hundreds of thousands of noncitizens on voter lists, but reporting found those numbers are far more shaky than claimed.
States resist federal voter list audits4:04
- Gabe Cohenassertion
State leaders in Nevada and elsewhere refused to investigate unverified federal claims without more proof. DOJ is suing about 30 states to force them to hand over voter lists but is losing those cases repeatedly. Republican state election officials rejected DOJ threats of prosecution, telling them to stay in their lane.
USPS mail ballot rules face implementation chaos5:54
- Gabe Cohenassertion
New USPS rules require states to add universal ballot envelopes with unique barcodes, potentially requiring millions of reprints. A USPS whistleblower said the portal was secretively and haphazardly rushed, not properly tested, and could cause catastrophic failures. States that refuse to upload data to the portal would lose access to USPS election mail delivery.
Supreme Court ruling on mail ballot rules pending0:00
- Gabe Cohenspeculation
Most people assume the Supreme Court will at least kick the mail ballot rules to 2028. The Supreme Court decision could look different now that the Postal Service has published the rules.
Commerce Department architects mail ballot restrictions11:43
- Gabe Cohenassertion
Sources tell him that Lutnick and his team were the architects behind the executive order that led to mail ballot restrictions. Lutnick's team orchestrated a disputed Census Bureau analysis claiming over 20,000 noncitizens voted in 2020.
Pressure to ban voting machines over China ties13:33
- Gabe Cohenassertion
Trump allies are pressuring Lutnick to ban voting machines by declaring them a national security threat due to Chinese components.
- Gabe Cohenopinion
The push to restrict machines speaks to a strategy of sowing doubt in midterm results by highlighting vulnerabilities.
Administration strategy to dispute election results15:14
- Gabe Cohenassertion
The administration has a win-win strategy: claim credit for securing elections if results are good, or blame state pushback if results are bad.
- Gabe Cohenopinion
Even if doomsday scenarios don't occur, the administration's actions could lead to sowing doubt in the results.
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