Many people are feeling confusion around the November 2020 election. It would appear that the US Postal Service is not helping matters, at least here in Colorado.
As the official keeper of the flame for Colorado’s mail ballot voting system, Secretary of State Jena Griswold — reportedly our youngest Secretary of State in history — has found herself standing up against the US Postal Service in federal court, in the case of Jena Griswold v. Louis DeJoy, et al.
On September 12, a federal judge granted a temporary restraining order in response to a lawsuit filed against the United States Postal Service and Postmaster General Louis DeJoy by Griswold over a USPS postcard that contains misinformation regarding the vote-by-mail process as it applies to Colorado.
The USPS mailer states that “rules and dates vary by state” and encourages recipients to “contact your election board to confirm.” But the mailer then tells voters to “request your mail-in ballot (often called ‘absentee’ ballot) at least fifteen days before Election Day” and encourages them to mail it “at least 7 days before Election Day.” The problem with that advice, here in Colorado, is that voters don’t need to request a ballot, since one is mailed automatically to everyone registered to vote, and they’re encouraged to return it well in advance of the election, either via mail or by dropping it off at the County Courthouse.
Postmaster General DeJoy’s response to complaints from Griswold had been, basically, “Go fly a kite.”
The lawsuit was filed September 11 in US District Court for the District of Colorado. According to Secretary Griswold:
“On Thursday [September 10], my office received notice that the United States Postal Service would be sending out a national pre-election mailer to every household in America that contains incorrect election information for Colorado. The mailer incorrectly asks that voters request a mail ballot 15 days before the election and return their ballots by mail at least seven days before the election. In Colorado, every registered voter is sent a ballot without having to make a request and voters are urged to return ballots by mail sooner than seven days before the election. My office asked USPS officials to delay or not send the mailer in Colorado, but they refused to commit to that.”
“As the Chief Election Official of the state of Colorado, it’s my job to try to stop misinformation and any unnecessary election confusion. The importance of this election, combined with the fact it is being held amidst a national pandemic, further heightens the need to provide correct voting information to Coloradans. That is why I am filing a lawsuit against the USPS to cease this mailer and help shield Colorado voters from this misinformation.”
The USPS response to the lawsuit states, in part:
Our mail-piece provides general, all-purpose guidance on the use of the mail, and not guidance on state election rules. The mail-piece – which has already been delivered to most households and will reach every American residential mailing and P.O. Box addresses in the coming week – contains a single set of simple recommendations for voters throughout the nation, regardless of where they live and where they vote…
The main message of the mail-piece is that voters should plan ahead, educate themselves about voting options available in their jurisdiction, and, if they choose to vote by mail, to give themselves enough time to receive, complete and return their ballot. We specifically encourage voters to visit their local election board website and provide a link for this purpose (usps.com/votinginfo)…
From an article about the controversial by reporter Michael Roberts posted on the Westword website:
The USPS’s insistence that it’s trying to inform voters rather than sow confusion clearly hasn’t persuaded Griswold, who’s been getting national attention for her stance, as exemplified by her appearance over the weekend on ABC’s Good Morning America… Still, considerable damage may already have been done in Colorado and other states whose specific rules don’t correspond to the postal service’s one-size-fits-all advice…
Here is our Secretary of State in a 3-minute interview, as part of a slightly longer Good Morning America segment:
USPS officials told a federal judge on Sunday that three-quarters of the misleading voter-information mailers have already been delivered, and a large portion of the rest are on their way.
“Postal Service officials at the Denver distribution center need to… attempt to manually locate and extract the postcards from the hundreds of thousands of pieces of mail in which these postcards are currently embedded at the distribution center,” the agency’s filing said. “Second, the Postal Service will also need to instruct each of its thousands of clerks and carriers across Colorado … to search for and remove any remaining postcards that Postal Service officials failed to identify or extract at the distribution center.”
“As a practical matter, achieving full compliance with the Court’s order will be extraordinarily difficult…”
In a response filed Sunday, Colorado officials suggested that the Postal Service’s estimates may be exaggerated. The filing included a copy of text message sent Friday evening by a Postal Service representative to a senior Colorado elections official, which stated that “(Colorado Springs) is too late but rest of state is delayed.”
“It’s not impossible for Defendants to halt the damage they are causing to Coloradans’ right to cast a meaningful ballot. Rather, it will take time and effort, but it is doable,” said the state’s response.