Changes at Postal Service on hold
WASHINGTON — A federal judge in Washington state on Thursday granted a request from 14 states to temporarily block operational changes within the U.S. Postal Service that have been blamed for a slowdown in mail delivery, saying President Donald Trump and Postmaster General Louis DeJoy are “involved in a politically motivated attack” on the agency that could disrupt the 2020 election.
Stanley Bastian, chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington, said policies put in place under DeJoy “likely will slow down delivery of ballots” this fall, creating a “substantial possibility that many voters will be disenfranchised and the states may not be able to effectively, timely, accurately determine election outcomes.”
“The states have demonstrated that the defendants are involved in a politically motivated attack on the efficiency of the Postal Service,” Bastian said in brief remarks after a twoand-a-half hour hearing in Yakima, Wash. “They have also demonstrated that this attack on the Postal Service
is likely to irreparably harm the states’ ability to administer the 2020 general election.”
The ruling — the first major decision to come out of several lawsuits filed by states against the Postal Service — was a victory for Democratic state officials who view Trump’s persistent attacks on mail voting and DeJoy’s operational changes as part of a concerted effort to impede the vote on Nov. 3. Partisan tensions are running high as millions of Americans prepare to cast mail ballots due to the coronavirus pandemic, and mail delays have heightened concerns that voters unfamiliar with the process will be disenfranchised.
The scope and duration of the injunction were not immediately clear. Bastian said he would provide more detail in a written order later Thursday or Friday.
USPS spokesman Dave Partenheimer said in a statement that “while we are exploring our legal options, there should be no doubt that the Postal Service is ready and committed to handle whatever volume of election mail it receives. Our number one priority is to deliver election mail ontime.”
Added Donald Lee Moak, a Democrat who chairs the election mail committee of the USPS Board of Governors: “Any suggestion that there is a politically motivated attack on the efficiency of the Postal Service is completely and utterly without merit.”
Last month, DeJoy told lawmakers that ensuring the safe and timely delivery of election mail was his “sacred duty,” disputing accusations that changes he put in place were politically motivated. He reiterated his commitment to election mail in a call Thursday with secretaries of states and election officials around the country.
The judge’s decision could produce more tumult within the Postal Service just as states start to send out mail ballots. At least nine states have started proactively sending mail ballot applications or request forms to voters, and by Sunday approximately 20 states will have started distributing actual ballots through the mail, according the Post’s 50-state voting guide.
“Changes this close to an election have a cost, and that cost is usually paid in voter confusion,” said David Becker, executive director of the nonprofit, nonpartisan Center for Election Innovation & Research. “What it comes down to is: Can voters rely on the Postal Service getting their ballots to them and getting them to election officials in a reasonable amount of time?”
It is unclear how the court decision will impact mail service in the short term.
The suit, filed by Washington and 13 other states, sought a broad injunction prohibiting the Postal Service from implementing operational changes, distribution center closures and removal of mail sorting machines, or any other “change in the nature of postal services which will generally affect service on a nationwide or substantially nationwide basis” until the
Postal Regulatory Commission weighs in with an advisory opinion.
Bastian said in court that he will base his preliminary injunction largely on what was sought by the states.
Some policies blamed for delivery delays have long been in place. For example, the Postal Service routinely mothballs sorting machines to cut out excess capacity, USPS officials have said.
After taking office in May, DeJoy also instituted new measures he later said were aimed at cutting costs, but postal workers said they led to a curtailing of overtime and mail backlogs.
Concerns about the USPS’s ability to handle election mail rose during the summer amid widespread reports of mail delays. Those worries grew acute when the Postal Service sent detailed letters to 46 states and the District of Columbia warning it could not guarantee that mail ballots would arrive in time to be counted in November.
Days later, 21 states cited concerns about the election as they announced they planned to file several lawsuits over DeJoy’s operational changes.
Washington’s suit was joined by Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin.