00:00So last year, Mr. Seiner, you issued a rule that explicitly said that the Postal Service has, quote,
00:07no role in administering elections. What has changed?
00:12I don't think anything has changed. You know, Senator, I'm not a political person, and the Postal Service is not
00:20a political organization.
00:21We, as you said, I think you quite aptly said, we deliver mail. That's what we do. We deliver mail.
00:27And that's what ballots are. Ballots are mail. Now, they are a special kind of mail, obviously.
00:33They need special care. And so years ago, we recommended what we call Kit 600.
00:40And Kit 600, the fundamental premises of Kit 600 is a unique barcode and a unique envelope.
00:46That allows us to move those ballots more efficiently, more securely.
00:51That is what our proposed rules suggest, is that we have unique barcode, unique envelope.
00:59And that is not something that is new.
01:03That's something that's been being used by states throughout the country on both sides of the political spectrum.
01:09So California has followed it. Oregon has followed it. Arizona has followed it.
01:14And Florida has followed it, among many other states.
01:18And so, you know, to me, it's not a political question.
01:23It's a question of how do we most efficiently and securely move ballots.
01:29We've been recommending this for many years.
01:33All this does is make it a requirement.
01:36So yes or no, if a state refuses to turn their absentee voter list over to the federal government,
01:42will the Postal Service still mail their ballots under this proposal rule?
01:47Under our proposed regulation, no.
01:50We would tell the state that we need the manifest.
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