NAACP Successfully Halts USPS Plan to Interfere with Mail-In Voting
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, a federal judge issued an order blocking procedures proposed by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to limit mail-in voting for certain voters. The order came in response to a successful motion filed by Public Citizen Litigation Group and the Legal Defense Fund (LDF), on behalf of the NAACP, to enforce a 2021 settlement agreement in which USPS committed to prioritizing the timely delivery of election mail, including mail-in ballots, without exception.
On June 2, as directed by an Executive Order issued by President Trump on March 31, USPS published a proposed rule under which it would refuse to deliver mail-in ballots to voters if state or local election officials did not provide certain information to USPS and use a certain envelope design. In granting the NAACP’s motion, the court agreed that the proposed procedures would violate the settlement agreement and prohibited USPS from implementing the proposed procedures.
“The court today correctly recognized that USPS’s plan to create roadblocks to mail-in voting was inconsistent with its commitment to timely deliver election mail,” said Allison Zieve, director of Public Citizen Litigation Group. “USPS’s plan was unwise, unlawful, and a threat to the millions of voters who rely on mailed ballots to participate in our democracy.”
“Today’s decision recognizes that USPS cannot disregard its legal obligation to timely deliver mail-in ballots to all voters,” said Sam Spital, Associate Director-Counsel of LDF. “We are glad that the court blocked a blatant attempt to renege on this commitment through a proposed rule that ran the risk of undermining the fairness of our national elections, creating particular dangers for Black voters. LDF will continue to defend our democracy and combat unlawful restrictions of the right to vote.”
“This ruling is a critical step in protecting the rights of voters who rely on the timely delivery of mail-in ballots to participate in our democracy,” said Anthony P. Ashton, Senior Associate General Counsel, NAACP. “The proposed USPS changes would have created unnecessary and unlawful barriers, in direct violation of the USPS’s mandate to prioritize election mail. Those barriers could have disproportionately harmed Black voters, who are more likely to rely on mail voting due to longstanding inequities in access. Put simply, the use of mail-in voting helps reduce voter intimidation at the polls and election day dirty tricks. This decision makes clear that access to the ballot cannot be tied to arbitrary requirements. The NAACP will continue to hold this government accountable when it attempts to undermine fair and equal access to the electoral process.”
Read more about the NAACP v. USPS case here. A short Q&A about this case and others challenging the USPS election proposed is here.