Tell USPS: Hands Off Mail-In Voting, Keep Elections Free and Fair!
Make a Comment
Comments are due Thursday, July 2
USPS is proposing to amend the domestic mail manual, the Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, to take control of mail-in ballots from the states, which are responsible for administering their own elections under the US Constitution. Please email a comment by July 2 opposing this federal overreach to the US Postal Service at PCFederalRegister@usps.gov. Your comment must contain your name and address and “Ballot Mail” in the subject line. You can also use Stand Up America’s on-line commenting form, which helps track the number of comments submitted. See our blog post for background information and commenting support.
Context
As this Protect Democracy backgrounder explains, this proposed rule amends the US Postal Service’s domestic mail manual to implement presidential Executive Order 14399, which “aims to limit access to mail-in voting.” It would require states to submit a list of all mail-in voters to a portal that the USPS has not yet developed and require the USPS to submit the same list back to the state by election day and to deliver and accept a ballot only from those on the list, which will inevitably be inaccurate. Besides being unnecessary because it purports to address a problem that doesn’t exist, and counterproductive because it creates an opportunity for tampering with election eligibility, state election officials, who should know, say that this process is onerous and unworkable. The EO is under litigation but a federal judge has refused to enjoin it because plaintiffs could not show direct injury as it was not yet implemented. This proposed rule implements the EO, so comments on the proposed rule could also affect the pending litigation.
Background
In Protect Democracy’s analysis, the MAGA regime’s triple threat to free and fair elections includes deception, disruption, and denial. For example, the regime has long been deceiving the public about the validity of election participation and results, claiming without evidence that non-citizens vote and that elections are rigged. With the collusion of the Supreme Court, it has been disrupting recent primary elections by redistricting even while voting is in progress. Where MAGA candidates lose mid-term elections, the regime will likely try to deny certification of the results, as it did in several critical states and at the US capitol in the 2000 presidential election.
Why Is This Happening Now?
Polling shows that the MAGA regime is extremely unpopular and likely to lose many contests in the November mid-term elections, assuming those elections are conducted freely and fairly. The MAGA regime also knows that if it loses control of the House and possibly even the Senate, the new Congress will hold it accountable for rampant corruption and willful trampling of the rule of law. To survive, MAGA must prevent that by any means possible. Making voting inconvenient if not infeasible for masses of people is one way to control who can vote.
What We Can Do to Fight Back
We can submit comments by July 2 on the proposed rule to the USPS. This backgrounder includes talking points and this comments template document provides examples. It is always best to make your comments as personal and specific to your experience as possible, as pro-forma comments are likely grouped and probably discounted. You can email comments that include your name and address to: PCFederalRegister@usps.gov, with a subject line of “Ballot Mail.” Or you can use Stand Up America’s on-line commenting form, which helps track the number of comments submitted.