The United States Postal Service is now taking an even more active role in voter suppression.
The Economic Times reports the USPS no longer postmarks mail upon collection — it is now postmarked at regional sorting centers. This means that people who vote by mail — the method overwhelmingly favored by voters supporting Democrat candidates — risk having their votes postmarked several days after they were placed in the mailbox. 1
Re-politicization of the Postal Service
Set your wayback machine for the first Trump Administration, when Louis DeJoy was appointed Postmaster General. DeJoy was selected by the USPS Board of Governors — all appointed by President Trump and confirmed by the Senate — and infamously received the appointment despite having no experience with the USPS because he was a major GOP donor. 2
DeJoy immediately set about retarding USPS speed and processes, canceling overtime pay and removing high-speed mail sorting machines. 3
Squeeze Play
At the same time, President Trump worked from the White House to starve the USPS of resources they’d need to process votes in the system cast months after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In an interview on Fox Business Network, Trump explicitly noted two funding provisions that Democrats are seeking in a relief package that has stalled on Capitol Hill. Without the additional money, he said, the Postal Service won’t have the resources to handle a flood of ballots from voters who are seeking to avoid polling places during the coronavirus pandemic. 4
Postmaster General David P. Steiner
Mr. Steiner succeeded Mr. DeJoy this past July. The change to postmarking was announced in August.
Records from OpenSecrets.org show a history of donations to PACs and primarily GOP candidates. The Washington Post reported Steiner was Trump’s pick for the position, though some recoiled at the notion that DeJoy was being succeeded by an executive from FedEx, a direct competitor: 5, 6
“The apparent choice of a postmaster general that comes directly from service on the board of directors of FedEx, one of the Postal Service’s primary competitors, presents a clear conflict of interest,” Brian Renfroe, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers, said in a statement. “This is an unmistakable push to hand business over to private shippers. Letter carriers and the over 300 million people we serve every day recognize this attempt at a hostile takeover of a beloved American institution for what it is, privatization-by-proxy.” 7
Conclusion
It’s no secret President Trump despises mail-in voting. The reason is simple: because Republicans overwhelmingly vote at the ballot box, he expects that removing mail-in ballots will dramatically decrease competition from Democrats. It’s no surprise that this new postmarking policy was enacted in advance of the mid-term elections.
Please make sure you vote, and make sure your vote counts — plan on going to the polls in person at your next opportunity.
1 More, D. (2025, December 6). USPS postmark shake-up could cost you big — property tax payers warned of surprise late fees. The Economic Times. Retrieved December 31, 2025, from https://m.economictimes.com/news/international/us/usps-postmark-shake-up-could-cost-you-big-property-tax-payers-warned-of-surprise-late-fees/articleshow/125807036.cms
2 Wikipedia contributors. (2025c, December 12). Louis DeJoy. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_DeJoy
3 ibid.
4 Trump admits he’s blocking postal cash to stop mail-in votes | AP News. (2020, August 14). AP News. https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-ap-top-news-voting-elections-politics-ece1f6e9cea1b2aa0a8c6af7ca003f26
5 OpenSecrets. (n.d.). OpenSecrets; OpenSecrets. Retrieved December 31, 2025, from https://www.opensecrets.org/search?order=asc&q=David+P+Steiner&sort=D&type=donors
6 Bogage, J. (2025, May 6). At Trump’s urging, USPS board to name FedEx official as postmaster general. The Washington Post. Retrieved December 31, 2025, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/05/06/usps-trump-david-steiner/
7 ibid.
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