State, Postal Service settle mailer lawsuit
Colorado settled a lawsuit with the Postal Service that gives the secretary of state and attorney general input into national media campaigns about voting that are sponsored by the Postal Service.
The settlement was reached late Thursday after the state sued the Postal Service and Postmaster General Louis DeJoy over mailers sent to Colorado households about voting by mail. Secretary of State Jena Griswold said the mailers were incorrect and misleading to the state’s voters.
Under the terms of the settlement, the Postal Service agreed to do the following:
• Try to remove from the system its flyers that have not been delivered.
• Let the Colorado attorney general’s office and the secretary of state’s office make proposals for changes to information on its voting website, usps. com/ voting.
• Provide a list of items it is planning to issue as part of a USPS national media campaign between Friday and Dec. 14 that will include advertising on television, radio and print publications. Colorado’s secretary of state and attorney general will have an opportunity to suggest changes or revisions. The agreement also establishes a process for reaching an agreement on contested statements.
Griswold and Attorney General Phil Weiser agreed to drop the lawsuit in exchange for the settlement.
However, they are allowed to return to court should the Postal Service violate the terms of the agreement.
Weiser said in an interview with The Denver Post that Colorado now is the only state with input on Postal Service advertisements on voting by mail. That’s because Griswold and he stood up to the Postal Service for distributing incorrect information, he said.
“We are in a unique position,” Weiser said. “We are going to be vigilant to do everything we can to protect Colorado and protect our election system.”
Griswold and Weiser filed the lawsuit Sept. 12 after the mailers began landing in mailboxes across the state. From 1.8 million to 2.4 million postcards were delivered to Colorado residents last week before U. S. District Court Judge William J. Martinez issued a temporary restraining order.
On Monday, Martinez upheld his restraining order, writing, “The imminent distribution of false and misleading voting information to over half a million Colorado households constitutes irreparable harm.”
Weiser said the Postal Service reached out to negotiate a settlement after that.
Floyd Wagoner, a postal service spokesman, said in an email to The Denver Post, “We are pleased that through open dialogue and communication with the state of Colorado we have resolved this matter, and look forward to working with the state and others across the country as we prepare for the election.”
Griswold said in a news release, “Voters deserve accurate election information.”