A new system to screen millions of mail-in ballots for this November’s US midterm elections was thrown together so hastily, and tested so little, that a single scanning glitch could see entire batches of ballots turned away, a whistleblower has told Congress.
The project – a key part of Donald Trump’s new restrictions on voting – is “perilously rushed and potentially unlawful”, according to the US senator Richard Blumenthal, who disclosed the warning in a letter to David Steiner, the postmaster general, on Tuesday.
Blumenthal, the top Democrat on the US Senate’s permanent subcommittee on investigations, said the account he had received made clear the US Postal Service “lacks the technical or operational capability” to roll it out safely before ballots go out to voters.
The system stems from a March executive order by Trump tightening federal control over mail-in voting, directing USPS to check ballots against a federally approved voter list before sending them – a break from its usual role of simply delivering whatever is handed over by states. Courts have blocked and unblocked parts of the order repeatedly since, amid lawsuits arguing it oversteps into territory the constitution leaves to states.
Pete Hegseth on Monday appeared to mock a woman’s weight in a photo from the Vernon Cadet Training Centre for youth in British Columbia, Canada.
Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey won the state’s Democratic primary on Tuesday night, dispatching a younger and more moderate challenger in a significant victory for the party’s progressive wing.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., named more than a dozen people he described as alleged Jeffrey Epstein "coconspirators" on the House floor Monday as he renewed his push to force the government to disclose millions of records connected to the convicted sex offender.
Israeli media outlets on Sunday published a video showing National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir visiting Damon Prison, where dozens of female Palestinian prisoners are being held.
Israeli veterans' organisation Breaking the Silence has accused the country's military of killing Palestinians in Gaza and later seeking evidence to justify the killings.
European financial leaders staged a diplomatic revolt on Monday after the Trump administration blindsided allies by inviting sanctioned Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov to attend a US-hosted G20 finance meeting in person.
