Trump friend and donor Louis Dejoy made a number of changes to United States Postal Service procedures in an election year, a move transparently designed to suppress mail-in voting. Under his orders, postal workers are no longer allowed to work overtime, mail that hasn’t been collected by postal workers by a designated time must be left behind, and mail sorting machines and drop-boxes have been removed. At a time when mail-in voting is at its highest in history, it’s not hard to see the motivation behind the changes.
NEW: DC fed judge issues unusual highly detailed directive to Postal Service to inform supervisors and workers about retraction of overtime changes. Plans daily hearings on compliance. Aims to ensure absentee ballots are received on time. Via @ColbyBermelhttps://t.co/qKhnSFNguF
— Josh Gerstein (@joshgerstein) October 28, 2020
Those moves inspired a lawsuit against the president to ensure that votes are received and counted fairly. Trump’s and the GOP’s attempts to suppress voting, with specific attacks on mail-in voting as leading to election fraud have not sat well with voters during a new rise in COVID-19 cases, sparking a court fight to ensure Americans’ rights are protected.
According to POLITICO:
‘In a highly detailed order, Judge Emmet Sullivan of the District Court for the District of Columbia granted an emergency motion by plaintiffs against President Donald Trump to enforce and monitor compliance with Sullivan’s previous injunction tied to USPS services.’
Last night, Brett Kavanaugh handed down one of the sloppiest opinions I've ever seen from a Supreme Court justice. It's riddled with errors and obfuscations and lies. I took a stab at counting them up. https://t.co/j8L3F5iYCQ All due credit to eagle-eyed @Tierney_Megan!
— Mark Joseph Stern (@mjs_DC) October 27, 2020
U.S. Federal Court Judge Emmett Sullivan issued detailed orders to the USPS to allow workers overtime pay until all mail is delivered each day, to abandon the new policy of leaving undelivered mail behind, and to replace mail sorting machines.
In response to the plaintiff’s petition for relief, Judge Sullivan said:
‘USPS personnel are instructed to perform late and extra trips to the maximum extent necessary to increase on-time mail deliveries, particularly for Election Mail. To be clear, late and extra trips should be performed to the same or greater degree than they were performed prior to July 2020 when doing so would increase on-time mail deliveries.’
Georgia's legacy of voter suppression is driving historic Black turnout: Changing demographics in the Atlanta suburbs and an explosion of civic engagement among first-time voters could turn the state blue for the first time in decades. https://t.co/I9xPp2BfSf
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) October 27, 2020
Sullivan is leaving nothing to chance and intends to review whether or not the changes are being carried out. Judge Sullivan demanded daily updates to ensure that his orders are being carried out sufficiently.
‘The judge further instructed the Postal Service to send him daily updates on the number of extra and late trips occurring every day at national, regional and local levels, in addition to information about on-time deliveries. And starting Wednesday, the agency and the plaintiffs who sued USPS will meet in a daily video conference to discuss status updates of how the agency is complying with Sullivan’s order.’
Voter suppression is alive and well, but it can’t stop a determined voter. https://t.co/cKZN2n4Mf9
— Joy VOTE & MASK UP!! Reid 😷) (@JoyAnnReid) October 28, 2020
