April 1, 2026
Statement from President Jonathan Smith on Anti-Voter Executive Order
On March 31, the White House issued Executive Order 14399, titled “Ensuring Citizenship Verification and Integrity in Federal Elections.” This executive order would require the United States Postal Service (USPS) to regulate who can receive ballots based on state-specific mail-in voter lists, created by the Department of Homeland Security.
The order contradicts the fundamental purpose of the USPS and its workforce – to provide universal service to all. The Postal Service serves all Americans; it cannot be used as a tool to disenfranchise voters.
Americans have voted by mail since the Civil War, which enabled military service members to vote, even while deployed. Since then, in each election, millions of voters in almost every state cast their ballot through the Postal Service. Voting by mail is a tradition that all Americans can be proud of. Changes to how people vote should not happen by manipulating the Postal Service.
When Congress established today’s public Postal Service in 1970, it purposely made the USPS an independent agency, free from the influence or control of politicians. Congress was explicit that the Postal Service’s purpose is to “bind the Nation together” by providing “prompt, reliable, and efficient services” to all communities. Every day, thousands of postal workers make sure that mission is fulfilled. Yesterday’s executive order threatens that independence and is an unacceptable attempt to politicize the post office.
Our public Postal Service does not block mailers from sending letters or refuse to deliver letters because of those who mailed them. Postal workers take the sanctity of the mail seriously, and every process and policy of the Postal Service ensures that mail is accepted, processed, and delivered, no matter who sent it or where it is going.
The American public, especially voters who cast their ballots through the U.S. Mail, should know that postal workers follow what we call “extraordinary measures” to ensure that ballots reach their destination promptly and securely. Any change to those measures or to the fundamental purpose of the Postal Service threatens this critical service provided to every person in the United States, guaranteed by law and the Constitution.