Bipartisan officials from several states rebuke USPS’ inaccurate election mailers

Bipartisan election officials are warning residents that a postcard sent to all households by the US Postal Service contains inaccurate information about mail-in voting.

Officials in Utah, Nevada and Maryland on Monday joined Colorado in publicly rebuking the USPS mailers, which were intended to help Americans navigate the vote-by-mail process.

The mailers said voters should “request your mail in ballot… 少なくとも 15 days before Election Day.” But that isn’t accurate for all states — especially for the millions of Americans living in the nine states and Washington, DC, that automatically mail ballots to every registered voter.

How to vote

The official “Vote Utah” Twitterアカウント, run by the office of Republican Lt. 政府. Spencer Cox, told residents to ignore the voting instructions from USPS in a series of posts on Monday.

“You may see a mailer from USPS directing you to request a mail-in/absentee ballot,” the tweets said. “UT voters DO NOT need to request a mail-in/absentee ballot. Ballots are automatically mailed to all active registered voters starting 21 days prior to Election Day.”

In Nevada, Republican Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske also said the mailers didn’t accurately explain election procedures, according to KVVU in Las Vegas. Cegavske also said her office wasn’t aware of the postcards before USPS sent them out to all households across the country.

Federal judge grants temporary restraining order to prevent USPS from sending election mailers with ‘false statements’

週末に, Colorado’s Democratic Secretary of State Jena Griswold won a court order over the weekend temporarily blocking USPS from sending any additional mailers in the state. Twitterの投稿で金曜日に, before filing the lawsuit, Griswold said, “When we asked USPS not to send the postcard with misinformation to voters in Colorado they flat out refused.”

Officials in Maryland, which is not an all-mail state, spoke out Monday to say that the USPS postcard was “inconsistent” with local guidance for how to most effectively cast a mail ballot.

“Portions of the postcard message are inconsistent with Maryland vote by mail guidelines. 例えば, do not wait until 15 days before Election Day, 11月 3, to request a mail-in ballot,” 声明は言った. “…There is no need to wait. Submit your application for a mail-in ballot at your earliest convenience.”

月曜日の声明で, West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner, 共和党, said the postcard was “well-intended” but contains “an inaccurate reference to a suggested mailing deadline, which could confuse some voters.”

民主党議員. Gerry Connolly of Virginia on Monday criticized the “大失敗” with the mailers at a House hearing about USPS and whether the Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, has potential conflicts of interests form his past business dealings. DeJoy says he has followed all ethics requirements.

“The postmaster general sent every home in America a mailer instructing all who seek to vote by mail to request a mail-in ballot, sending misinformation and confusing voters in nine states that automatically send out such ballots,,” said Connolly, who runs a subcommittee overseeing USPS. “This debacle could have been avoided.”

USPS defended the mailers in a statement over the weekend.

“Our mail-piece provides general, all-purpose guidance on the use of the mail, and not guidance on state election rules,” USPS spokesman Dave Partenheimer said. “The mail-piece … contains a single set of simple recommendations for voters throughout the nation, regardless of where they live and where they vote. 同時に, we are aware that each state has its own specific rules, deadlines and requirements, and the mail-piece acknowledges that fact.”