Judge blocks 'politically motivated' changes to U.S. Postal Service ahead of election

By Karen Freifeld

 

FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: A person holds a sign as U.S. Postal Service (USPS) workers rally on the steps of the James A. Farley Post Office in Manhattan calling for an end to mail delays, funding for the Postal Service and for the firing of U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy in New York City, New York, U.S., August 25, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo/File Photo

 

(Reuters) - A federal judge on Thursday blocked controversial changes to the United States postal service, saying they were "a politically motivated attack" that had slowed the nation's mail and likely would slow the delivery of ballots in the upcoming presidential election.

 

U.S. District Judge Stanley Bastian in Yakima, Washington, said he was issuing a nationwide injunction sought by 14 states in a case against U.S. President Donald Trump, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, and the U.S. Postal Service over July changes to the service.

 

The 14 states, led by Washington, had filed a motion for a preliminary injunction asking the court to immediately halt a "leave mail behind" policy that required postal trucks to leave at certain times, regardless of whether mail was loaded.

 

The states also asked for all election mail be treated as first-class mail, for the replacement of necessary sorting machines that had been removed, and for the postal service to abide by DeJoy's commitment to suspend the changes until after the Nov. 3 election.

 

DeJoy, a Trump supporter, said in August that he would halt many of the cost-cutting changes he put in place until after the presidential election after Democrats accused him of trying to put his thumb on the scales to help Trump, which he has denied. A surge in mail-in ballots is expected because of the coronavirus pandemic.

 

"The states have demonstrated that the defendants are involved in a politically motivated attack on the efficiency of the postal service," the judge said after about 2 1/2 hours of arguments that Reuters heard by phone.

 

"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 judge said the preliminary injunction would essentially be issued as the states requested and he would file a written order with details, likely later on Thursday.

 

U.S. Postal Service spokesman Dave Partenheimer said while the agency was exploring its legal options, it was "ready and committed to handle whatever volume of election mail it receives.

 

"Our number one priority is to deliver election mail on-time," Partenheimer said.

 

Lee Moak, election mail committee chair of the postal service's board of governors, called any suggestion of a politically motivated attack on efficiency "completely and utterly without merit."

 

At the hearing, Kristin Beneski, a lawyer for the Washington Attorney General, told the judge critical mail already had been delayed for weeks at a time, including ballots. She also noted reports that postal trucks had left for cross-country trips empty.

 

Attorney Joseph Borson, who represented the defendants, said the postal service was prepared to timely deliver election mail and that the problems have largely been resolved.

 

He also said that the states were required to bring the matter to the Postal Regulatory Commission, not the courts.

 

"The postal service has and will continue to do extraordinary efforts to ensure all ballots are delivered," Borson said, but added there are "physical limits to what it's able to do."

 

Besides Washington, states joining the lawsuit include Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin.

 

Similar lawsuits by states are pending in Pennsylvania and New York.

 

"Today’s victory protects a critical institution for our country,” Washington state attorney general Bob Ferguson said after the ruling. “Americans can now confidently vote by mail and have their voices heard.”

 

(Reporting by Karen Freifeld; additional reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chris Reese and Aurora Ellis)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-09-18

 

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This is not gonna end well.

 

There will be last minute appeals, and other excuses for not following the ruling to the letter.

 

Trump has instigated something, and he will use it to reject the election results, if he doesn't get re-elected

This is the kind of thing that happens in 3rd World countries

run by dictators,who do anything to win elections,now that

the judge has tried to change the law,so that maybe the votes

will be delivered,he may have to ask his friend Vladimir for

help to win again,

America always promoting democracy ,what has gone wrong.....

regards Worgeordie

21 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

This is the kind of thing that happens in 3rd World countries

run by dictators,who do anything to win elections

aka USA. 

 

Good force that dejoy dude to quit messing with our ballots let’s get this election done and put behind us enough chaos 

The madness will not end with the election, especially if Trump loses. His deaf/blind army will not give up and go home. They will be out in force. He brought them out of the woodwork and they won't return easily. 

His base is pretty cohesive, largely immutable and will continue to support and propagate the hatred, bigotry, and class division they worship in him. Sooner or later they will find another demagogue to follow and the pattern will repeat. 

 

The difference is that now most Americans have woken up to the threat from within. The country has paid a terrible price for its lack of vigilance. I can only hope this lesson is not forgotten soon. 

7 hours ago, Tug said:

Good force that dejoy dude to quit messing with our ballots let’s get this election done and put behind us enough chaos 

The "chaos" will not end as the underlying issue has not been addressed by anyone but Sanders ...

So, I celebrate ruling as there was a blatant intent to restrict the right to vote. Yet another documented example of the incompetence of the current administration ... hard to imagine in a national election year. The madness in the USA will continue, IMHO, due to having the underlying issue not being addressed by anyone in national leadership ... save Bernie and he again was shut out by powerful vested interests. The underlying issue? It is evidenced in the justified frustration/anger in the working middle class and is economic. The great irony is that this issue was/is the cause of far too many believing The Donald's promises to address (too bad they did not read his documented history before the 2016 election) ... the irony? It is the same issue demanding to be addressed by the progressives. All addressing the economic income/wealth gap, at least as a moderate step. 1). raise the minimum wage for the working middle class 2). institute a national healthcare program like all other developed countries provide for their citizens 3). lower any cost of increasing knowledge through higher education (benefitting the individual, business and the nation through more knowledgable citizens) 4) protect Social Security/Medicare as earned benefits for the retired working middle class.

1 minute ago, Susco said:

Democrats didn't push for mail in voting.

Susco

 

Mail in voting has existed in limited form for many years.  However it was done with people who were NOT ABLE to go to the polls.  It was called Absentee Voting.  The person voting by mail was required to show cause for why they had to vote by mail.  Having a small number of people who do to valid reasons "being out of the state" voting by mail is certainly valid.  But opening up to millions is a recipe  for fraud.  36 million Americans go to Walmart each week and have so for the past several weeks.  If they can "safely go" to Walmart to pick up groceries, they certainly can make it to the polls with their ID. 

In terms of pushing for Vote by Mail being the Democrats, either you are ill informed or completely ignorant of the tactics by the Democrats to PUSH FOR UNLIMITED vote by mail. 

To help educate you, I have attached the following articles.

 
https://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/497375-house-democrats-include-36-billion-for-mail-in-voting-in-new-stimulus

 

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/pelosi-says-democrats-will-push-vote-mail-next-coronavirus-relief-n1193276

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/08/24/politics/democratic-super-pacs-launch-vote-by-mail-ads/index.html

Again, it is fine that you dislike or disagree with Trump however if anyone has an agenda on mail in voting, it is the Democrats not Trump. 


 

3 minutes ago, Thomas J said:

Susco

 

Mail in voting has existed in limited form for many years.  However it was done with people who were NOT ABLE to go to the polls.  It was called Absentee Voting.  The person voting by mail was required to show cause for why they had to vote by mail.  Having a small number of people who do to valid reasons "being out of the state" voting by mail is certainly valid.  But opening up to millions is a recipe  for fraud.  36 million Americans go to Walmart each week and have so for the past several weeks.  If they can "safely go" to Walmart to pick up groceries, they certainly can make it to the polls with their ID. 

In terms of pushing for Vote by Mail being the Democrats, either you are ill informed or completely ignorant of the tactics by the Democrats to PUSH FOR UNLIMITED vote by mail. 

To help educate you, I have attached the following articles.

 
https://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/497375-house-democrats-include-36-billion-for-mail-in-voting-in-new-stimulus

 

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/pelosi-says-democrats-will-push-vote-mail-next-coronavirus-relief-n1193276

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/08/24/politics/democratic-super-pacs-launch-vote-by-mail-ads/index.html

Again, it is fine that you dislike or disagree with Trump however if anyone has an agenda on mail in voting, it is the Democrats not Trump. 


 

Mail n voting is very common. No evidence of an issues. In case you missed it there is a pandemic and people that listen to science prefer not to be in large gatherings.

 

why dont you want them voting,

26 minutes ago, Thomas J said:

Mail in voting has existed in limited form for many years.  However it was done with people who were NOT ABLE to go to the polls

 

26 minutes ago, Thomas J said:

To help educate you

We are now in an environment where people SHOULD NOT go to the polling stations, able or not able.

 

In case you missed it, 200.000 people have died already in the US, most likely because they didn't drink disinfectant or shove a black light up their rectum, as advised by your hero.

 

By the way, I can't be bothered to find the links again as they have been posted on this forum many times already, but from the few cases of mail in vote fraud that was discovered in the past, the majority was committed by republicans.

 

One of the attempted frauds was by a man called Donald J Trump. You heard of him?>

 

Edited September 18, 20205 yr by onthedarkside
personal comment removed

9 hours ago, worgeordie said:

This is the kind of thing that happens in 3rd World countries

run by dictators,who do anything to win elections,now that

the judge has tried to change the law,so that maybe the votes

will be delivered,he may have to ask his friend Vladimir for

help to win again,

America always promoting democracy ,what has gone wrong.....

regards Worgeordie

What has gone wrong?

The current president and his fans.

A post with unsourced allegations of U.S. election fraud and various replies have been removed. If you're going to make claims, credibly source and attribute them.

Founding Fathers didn't expect people to vote by mail. It is only a new way for Democrats to steal the election. Mayor Daley would love this vote by mail scheme. This is not absentee voting.

3 minutes ago, IAMHERE said:

Founding Fathers didn't expect people to vote by mail. It is only a new way for Democrats to steal the election. Mayor Daley would love this vote by mail scheme. This is not absentee voting.

 

Because the mail back then was exactly the same as it is now. Sure. Let's make a list of things the Founding Fathers did not expect, and ban them all.

11 minutes ago, Morch said:

 

Because the mail back then was exactly the same as it is now. Sure. Let's make a list of things the Founding Fathers did not expect, and ban them all.

Oops, there goes Twitter, any guns that can be loaded within 5 minutes and much more. We'd again trust in God though.

5 minutes ago, stevenl said:

Oops, there goes Twitter, any guns that can be loaded within 5 minutes and much more. We'd again trust in God though.

 

Slaves. Women voting. Probably a bunch of other stuff.

Many believe (myself included) that nationwide injunctions issued by lower courts are in and of themselves not constitutional, and that this is a topic that the SCOTUS needs to revisit. As for this particular case, I would like to see how it plays out on appeal.

 

I am not saying that such injunctions are not valid law under current rulings, but it needs to be reviewed. Judges in these lower courts have way to much power to issue rulings that affect the entire Country. I hope to see a challenge in the Supreme court over this soon.

 

Justice Thomas has written a brilliant dissent on a case regarding this issue. I would cite it but I can't remember the case at the moment. I may come back and post it if I can think of it. I think it was one of the cases related to the Trump travel ban on certain Muslim countries. It would be at the SCOTUS blog if anyone wants to find it before me.

11 hours ago, Susco said:

This is not gonna end well.

 

There will be last minute appeals, and other excuses for not following the ruling to the letter.

 

Trump has instigated something, and he will use it to reject the election results, if he doesn't get re-elected

I am sure it is possible there will be an appeal because that is how the law works. There is a Right to appeal to a higher Court. You are OK with that right? An appeal is not an excuse, nor does it have anything to do with refusing to follow the law as it stands.  Trump has not instigated anything, nor is Trump planning to reject election results. Nor do you have any reason to say such a thing. Nor do you have any proof of such a thing. Nor do you read the President's thoughts.

1 minute ago, Damual Travesty said:

I am sure it is possible there will be an appeal because that is how the law works. There is a Right to appeal to a higher Court. You are OK with that right? An appeal is not an excuse, nor does it have anything to do with refusing to follow the law as it stands.  Trump has not instigated anything, nor is Trump planning to reject election results. Nor do you have any reason to say such a thing. Nor do you have any proof of such a thing. Nor do you read the President's thoughts.

 

You do not any more idea regarding Trump's plans than other posters do. The President did, on more than one occasion, refuse to commit regarding accepting elections results, in case they don't go his way.

 

48 minutes ago, IAMHERE said:

Founding Fathers didn't expect people to vote by mail. It is only a new way for Democrats to steal the election. Mayor Daley would love this vote by mail scheme. This is not absentee voting.

They also didnt expect you pay your taxes by mail or on the internet but that seems to be just fine....where is the massive outcry for tax fraud by mail or internet from MAGA Force? Oh wait...The Tax Cheat In Chief is at the helm right now, isnt he...

50 minutes ago, IAMHERE said:

Founding Fathers didn't expect people to vote by mail. It is only a new way for Democrats to steal the election. Mayor Daley would love this vote by mail scheme. This is not absentee voting.

Its not new and it's not only about one party.

4 minutes ago, Damual Travesty said:

I am sure it is possible there will be an appeal because that is how the law works. There is a Right to appeal to a higher Court. You are OK with that right? An appeal is not an excuse, nor does it have anything to do with refusing to follow the law as it stands.  Trump has not instigated anything, nor is Trump planning to reject election results. Nor do you have any reason to say such a thing. Nor do you have any proof of such a thing. Nor do you read the President's thoughts.

 Trump has made many announcements that there is massive fraud with mail in voting. He NEVER provided any evidence.

 

Trump has instructed his appointee at the head of the postal service, to cut back on service, which has now been ruled as unlawful by a court. And the judge has given some instructions.

 

I assume those instructions can not be enforced as long as there are appeals.

 

Same game Trump is playing with releasing his tax records, which was one of his 2016 campaign promises.

 

Same game his son is playing

 

Trump's son agrees to sit for questioning in New York probe, after the election

 

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/trump-s-son-agrees-to-sit-for-questioning-in-new-york-probe--after-the-election-13122830

 

15 minutes ago, Damual Travesty said:

nor is Trump planning to reject election results

Let's talk about that after the elections, when Trump lose, which is most likely since he is a born loser.

 

 

16 minutes ago, Damual Travesty said:

I am sure it is possible there will be an appeal because that is how the law works. There is a Right to appeal to a higher Court. You are OK with that right? An appeal is not an excuse, nor does it have anything to do with refusing to follow the law as it stands.  Trump has not instigated anything, nor is Trump planning to reject election results. Nor do you have any reason to say such a thing. Nor do you have any proof of such a thing. Nor do you read the President's thoughts.

Trump: 'The only way we're going to lose this election is if the election is rigged'

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/512424-trump-the-only-way-we-are-going-to-lose-this-election-is-if-the

 

Sounds like Dear President is planning a rejection of the election results, if it doesn't go his way, to me....

34 minutes ago, Tie Dye Samurai said:

53 minutes ago, Damual Travesty said:

I am sure it is possible there will be an appeal because that is how the law works. There is a Right to appeal to a higher Court. You are OK with that right? An appeal is not an excuse, nor does it have anything to do with refusing to follow the law as it stands.  Trump has not instigated anything, nor is Trump planning to reject election results. Nor do you have any reason to say such a thing. Nor do you have any proof of such a thing. Nor do you read the President's thoughts.

Trump: 'The only way we're going to lose this election is if the election is rigged'

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/512424-trump-the-only-way-we-are-going-to-lose-this-election-is-if-the

 

Sounds like Dear President is planning a rejection of the election results, if it doesn't go his way, to me....

 

It's called the "head I win, tail you lose" tactics, starting with schoolyard bullies where they establish the rule. Then it progresses onto "an offer you can't refuse" and so forth when the bullies grow up and join the gang (name? fill in the blank, for ex. mafia, white house 2020, etc.)

 

In the meantime, trolls from moscow farm will tirelessly chirp the chorus of defending the bully/cretin in the white house aka Putin puppet (see the 1st quote above - to be clear of any misunderstanding I'm not aiming at you TDSamurai - I say the 1st quote). Watch out for their rhetoric ala William Barr, a lot of hifaluting verbiage, feigning deep knowledge of (made up) facts and laws, plus a lot of acrobatic phraseology, but what it finally boils down to is like pouring chocolate on a pile of fresh turd (my update version of "putting lipstick on a pig.") Can't fool any one, troll.

1 hour ago, Susco said:

Let's talk about that after the elections, when Trump lose, which is most likely since he is a born loser.

Billionaire, President, born loser LOL.  

Edited September 18, 20205 yr by PattayaJames

2 minutes ago, PattayaJames said:

Billionaire, President, born loser LOL.  

Billionaire??????

 

You must be the only one who has seen his tax returns.

 

I guess there must be a reason why he is afraid to show them, although it was one of his major 2016 election campaign promises.

 

1 hour ago, Tie Dye Samurai said:

They also didnt expect you pay your taxes by mail or on the internet but that seems to be just fine....where is the massive outcry for tax fraud by mail or internet from MAGA Force? Oh wait...The Tax Cheat In Chief is at the helm right now, isnt he...

These idiots will twist themselves into the most ridiculous knots to try support their tribe and world view. 

Edited September 18, 20205 yr by shdmn

2 hours ago, IAMHERE said:

Founding Fathers didn't expect people to vote by mail. It is only a new way for Democrats to steal the election. Mayor Daley would love this vote by mail scheme. This is not absentee voting.

The 2nd amendment was written long before assault weapons and high capacity mags.  So glad to see you support an assault weapons ban.

Edited September 18, 20205 yr by shdmn

Inflammatory post removed.