No interference with Vote-by-Mail!

Careful! There are political operators out there who are trying to disrupt or interfere with this year’s midterm elections while you aren’t looking!

For example, President Donald Trump’s March 31 executive order directs the Postal Service (USPS) to implement new rules for mail-in ballots. These changes could disenfranchise countless eligible voters. The USPS could under this order be forced to act as an “election gatekeeper“ — deciding who should receive ballots and who shouldn’t. The March 31 executive order clearly violates the law by interfering with the rights of millions of voters — nearly one-third of the total number of voters — who need or choose to vote by mail ballot.

In a lawsuit settled in December 2021, with Public Citizen, a legal arm of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Postal Service agreed to ensure the delivery of mail-in ballots through the 2028 general election. 

Now, faced with Trump’s new executive order, Public Citizen has returned to their lawsuit, asking the courts to enforce the settlement made at that time. The earlier settlement would essentially require the USPS to prioritize the timely delivery of election mail to all voters without exception.

Bear in mind that the U.S. Constitution defines federal elections as the province of Congress and the states, not the president. The Constitution also gives oversight of the Postal Service to Congress. Thus Trump’s executive order directing the USPS to refuse delivery of valid ballots is one more violation of U.S. law.

Other developments in the election struggle

* The Supreme Court ruled that as long as your vote is postmarked by Election Day, it will be counted: The high court upheld the right of states to count ballots that arrive after that date, provided they have the required postmark.

* A threat to refuse delivery of ballots: Postmaster General David Steiner, a Republican mega-donor and Trump appointee, admitted in a Senate hearing that the USPS would not deliver ballots to voters if a state refused to turn over their absentee voter list. New Hampshire Senator Margaret Hassan promptly responded to this double-barreled assault on voter rights. She called the refusal to deliver election mail and the threat to violate voters’ election privacy “blatantly illegal.”

* Gerrymandering to redraw voting districts for partisan advantage: The Supreme Court recently gutted the 1965 Voting Rights Act passed during the heat of the Civil Rights Movement in the South. This new ruling allows redistricting to reduce the number of seats held by Black and other representatives of color.

* Postal labor union defends Vote-by-Mail: On July 1,  the San Francisco-area branch of the National Association of Letter Carriers voted unanimously to oppose any interference with Vote-by-Mail. The resolution, which will be presented at the NALC National Convention in August, states:

“Whereas: members of the Executive branch of the federal government are attempting to interfere with Voting-by-Mail and interfering with the delivery of all mail, including mail ballots, by letter carriers — a tradition which has been in existence since the Constitution 250 years ago.

“Therefore be it Resolved: that NALC Branch 214 go on record opposing any interference with Vote-by-Mail and demanding that every ballot be delivered, so every ballot can be counted in the upcoming elections.”