BRIAN HOWEY: For 250 years the postal service united us. Now it divides

Prefer us on Google Brian A. Howey INDIANAPOLIS — For the past 250 years, the United States Postal Service has been a connector, providing Americans with a reliable means of communicating and conducting commerce. It was a true uniting force. It appears to be taking on a sinister role: that of a gatekeeper with the unconstitutional power to reject mail-in ballots. The Postal Service is now poised to divide us. The U.S. Constitution clearly gives the 50 states and the District of Columbia authority to run our elections via 10,000 local portals, with congressional oversight. The president and the Postal Service have no constitutional role in determining who votes and how. An executive order signed by President Donald J. Trump in March directed the Postal Service to deliver mail ballots only to voters on approved lists maintained by the federal government using newly designed envelopes with mandatory barcodes. It also ordered the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration to compile citizenship lists. Some 20 states, including Indiana, complied with a request to share that data; 30 states and the District did not. The Department of Justice is 0-23 in cases against the non-complying states in federal courts. ICYMI | Woman dies after being pinned beneath off-road vehicle in Northwest Indiana NIPSCO urged to repay 4,000 Northwest Indiana residents over decades of double charges Wanatah couple found dead, LaPorte County police investigate Man faces child sex charge after being nabbed with 3 juveniles in Portage parking lot Gary program offers $350 payments to residents who lost food, wages, necessities in storms Mom, daughter dead following Indiana police pursuit crash UPDATE | Power restored to Portage residents, but nearly 1,300 in Michigan City still out Lake Station man faces six child molesting charges involving two girls U.S. Steel completes $350 million project, returns blast furnace to service at Gary Works Northwest Indiana man charged after allegedly pulling out gun at oil change shop Alleged Northwest Indiana gambling kingpin asks for release pending trial Indiana cop arrested, charged with using Flock camera system for 2,000 improper searches Woman intentionally stepped in front of train in Michigan City, police say Top Porter County lawmen afoul of public trust in Northwest Indiana Flock camera case Michigan City man accused of molestation after girl makes claim during class at school The final Postal Service rule established last week 'makes clear that the Postal Service will generally not accept Outbound Federal Ballot mailings unless compliance with the rule's new standards has been verified,' according to Democracy Docket. In other words, if states don't submit redesigned mail ballot envelopes for Postal Service approval and hand over the name and address of every voter who might use a mail-in ballot, mail carriers won't deliver them, according to Democracy Docket. That could shut off the ballot-casting method used by nearly 47 million voters in 2024, or roughly 30% of the electorate.