BOSTON — The Trump administration is sabotaging the U.S. Postal Service in an effort to rig this fall’s presidential election, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said in a statement Tuesday.
She also announced she is filing a lawsuit to stop it.
At least a half dozen states including Colorado, North Carolina and Virginia are said to be reviewing their legal options against the administration.
With a global pandemic only getting worse across the U.S., many states are relying on a mail-in voting option to keep citizens safely social distanced during the election. Five states only accept ballots by mail.
Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin said earlier Tuesday more than 950,000 ballots had been mailed to registered voters across the state ahead of the state primary election on Sept. 1.
It has come to this.
— Maura Healey (@MassAGO) August 18, 2020
Donald Trump is trying slow down the Postal Service to rig the election. We are suing to stop him.
It has come to this. Donald Trump is trying slow down the Postal Service to rig the election. We are suing to stop him. Like any of this Administration’s policies, its changes to USPS are illegal. Modifications to the Postal Service with a nationwide impact on mail service must be submitted to the Postal Regulatory Commission. Trump can’t just wake up and unilaterally disrupt our mail system. Attorneys general are not in this fight alone. Congress is trying to appropriate more funding for the Postal Service and will be questioning Louis DeJoy this week. Massachusetts state leaders like @SecretaryOfMass are working to ensure our elections are safe and fair. And we need YOU. Don’t lose faith in our election or the Postal Service. Don’t let Trump’s attempt to sow chaos and undermine your belief in democracy. Vote—vote early if you can. I promise you this: your ballot will be counted.
— Atty. Gen. Maura Healey full statement from Tweets
Democrats have pushed for a total of $10 billion for the Postal Service in talks with Republicans on the COVID-19 response bill. That figure, which would include money to help with election mail, is down from a $25 billion plan in a House-passed coronavirus measure.
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has said that the agency is in a financially untenable position, but he maintains it can handle this year’s election mail. A major donor to Trump and other Republicans, DeJoy is the first postmaster general in nearly two decades who is not a career postal employee.
Memos obtained by The Associated Press show that Postal Service leadership has pushed to eliminate overtime and halt late delivery trips that are sometimes needed to ensure mail arrives on time, measures that postal workers and union officials say are delaying service. Additional records detail cuts to hours at post offices, including reductions on Saturdays and during lunch hours.
Democrats, and a handful of Republicans, have sent DeJoy several letters asking him to reverse his changes and criticizing what they say is a lack of openness by the agency. Late Wednesday, Senate Democrats again wrote DeJoy, this time saying postal leadership is pushing state election officials to opt for pricier first-class postage for mail-in ballots to be prioritized.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
CNN and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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