Postal workers' union president Jonathan Smith criticizes the mail-ballot executive order
Jonathan SmithPresident of the American Postal Workers Union, which represents USPS clerks and other postal employees
American Postal Workers Union President Jonathan Smith told Government Executive that the mail-in ballot executive order targets a problem that does not exist. He said it is meant to create chaos and put doubt in Americans' minds about voting by mail.
“It addresses a problem that does not exist It’s to create chaos and put doubt in the American people's minds about voting by mail.”
Reporting
Where this statement fits
Should Trump’s new mail-in voting restrictions apply to the 2026 midterms?
USPS’s new federal ballot-mail rule requires election officials to meet envelope standards, enroll voters through a federal portal and submit outgoing ballots for verification. The Trump administration argues these are lawful anti-fraud postal controls. Challenging states and civil-rights organizations say USPS is intruding into state-run elections and that the late rollout threatens voters’ access. On September 14, the Supreme Court left a temporary block in place for the 2026 election. Alito and Thomas would have allowed enforcement; Kavanaugh objected to applying the rule this year.
Source and context
Reporting
About this source
Government Executive interview with the APWU president on postal workers' training for the executive order's ballot-mail changes, published while the Supreme Court was considering the government's request.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
Government Executive reported on September 10, 2026 that federal lawsuits over the executive order were again before the Supreme Court and that APWU had filed an amicus brief there the day before.
After the quotation
Smith also said postal employees had not been trained on the changes and that USPS is contractually required to meet with the union before making significant changes to members' duties, according to Government Executive. He said the administration was giving the false impression that postal workers should decide who gets a ballot.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The reference point is implementing the mandatory USPS ballot-mail requirements for the 2026 election, under the executive order. Smith says the order addresses a problem that does not exist and is meant to create chaos and doubt about voting by mail. That rejects the order and the effort to carry it out, so we labeled it Condemned.
- Recorded on
- Published here
- People and groups discussed
- Donald Trump, United States Postal Service
More from this case
Read the full casePritzker says Illinois sued over Trump's mail-voting threat and won
“That's why we added polling locations statewide, and when Donald Trump threatened mail-in voting, we took him to court—and won.”Read statement
Kate Starbird says the administration's mail-voting push sowed doubt and confusion
“The bad news: The Trump admin's efforts to interfere w/ mail-in-voting were successful in sowing doubt & confusion. The good news: That's not stopping voters who are getting the message to vote early, use official ballot dropboxes, & track their ballots.”Read statement
Shapiro says Trump tried to limit Pennsylvanians' mail-in voting
“Donald Trump tried to prevent Pennsylvania voters from making their voices heard in this election by attempting to limit mail-in voting.”Read statement
Share or embed this statement
The embed keeps its attribution link to The Dispute Index. Credit the image to The Dispute Index and link to the statement page.
Cite this record
- Publisher
- The Dispute Index
- Title
- Postal workers' union president Jonathan Smith criticizes the mail-ballot executive order
- First published
- Last updated
- Permalink
- https://disputeindex.com/events/2827-american-postal-workers-union-president-jonathan-smith-told
Last updated marks the most recent saved version of this published statement.
The Dispute Index. "Postal workers' union president Jonathan Smith criticizes the mail-ballot executive order". First published: 2026-09-26. Last updated: 2026-09-26. https://disputeindex.com/events/2827-american-postal-workers-union-president-jonathan-smith-told