Name: Federal judge: Mailing misleading voter information constitutes irreparable harm to Colorado
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Federal judge: Mailing misleading voter information constitutes irreparable harm to Colorado

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GET BREAKING NEWS IN YOUR BROWSER. CLICK HERE TO TURN ON NOTIFICATIONS.XBy | | The Denver PostA federal judge on Monday upheld his order that the U.S. Postal Service stop delivering flyers with what the state says is misleading information on voting in Colorado, even though the Postal Service says about 75% of those flyers already have been delivered.Between about 1.8 and 2.4 million postcards were delivered to Colorado residents last week before U.S. District Court Judge William J. Martinez issued a temporary restraining order at 6:55 p.m. Saturday stopping the mailings, according to court filings Sunday and Monday.Martinez on Monday refused the Postal Service’s , in part because the order is still stopping more than 555,000 notices from being delivered.“The imminent distribution of false and misleading voting information to over half a million Colorado households constitutes irreparable harm,” Martinez wrote in the decision.The judge’s order to stop delivery of the flyers filed by Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, who argued the mailers presented misleading information about voting in Colorado. The mailers say voters must request a mail-in ballot, but in Colorado, every registered voter receives a mail ballot and voters do not have to specifically request those ballots.The Postal Service argues that the mailers, which are being distributed nationally, are not misleading because they tell readers to check their local jurisdictions for details on how to vote, and because they are intended to provide only general information that encourages voting, not to detail state laws.Griswold said Monday that she learned about the mailers from another state on Thursday, and that she on Friday confirmed with Postal Service leadership in Washington, D.C., that the mailers would be sent in Colorado.“We asked them not to send it; they refused,” she said. Her office was told only limited mailings had gone out in Colorado on Friday, and that additional mailings would not go out until Monday, she said, adding she was “pretty shocked” to see widespread reports Saturday from residents saying that they’d received the mailers.“The truth is we do not know and the Postal Service has been saying different information,” she said of the number of flyers sent. She said she believes the lawsuit is still a necessary step to stop the remainder of the flyers from being sent.“All we know is that there is misinformation, and I do think it is still worth it to have them stop spreading it,” she said.The 75% of mailers that the Postal Service says they’ve delivered includes about 1.7 million postcards delivered from the Denver distribution center, another 171,000 delivered from Grand Junction, plus up to 612,000 flyers delivered from a distribution center in Albuquerque — although the Postal Service could not say exactly how many of those 612,000 postcards went to Colorado residents and how many went to New Mexico residents.The about 1.7 million flyers sent from Denver represented about 75% of the flyers that distribution center received, according to court documents. Of the remaining 25% of flyers from the Denver distribution center, about 15% — or just over 333,000 postcards — were successfully pulled from the mail delivery process Saturday, according to motions filed on Sunday. The last 10% — about 222,000 postcards — were already in the process of being delivered, the filing said, and could not be easily separated from other mail.On Monday, U.S. Attorney Jason Dunn said in a court filing that the Postal Service is attempting to manually remove the remaining postcards from the mail processing system. On Sunday, nearly 30 USPS employees&nbsp; inspected millions of pieces of mail and removed the postcards over the course of about 20 hours, he said. Post offices in the state also have been advised of the judge’s order to stop delivery, and mail carriers have been instructed not to deliver the postcards to any customers.Colorado state officials said in court filings that the Postal Service’s claim that 75% of the flyers have been delivered contradicts information postal officials previously gave to the state, as well as statements they made publicly.Postal Service spokesman David Rupert told The Denver Post on Saturday that the flyers had gone out to a handful of communities, totaling in the thousands of households. He did not immediately return a request for comment Monday. Another spokesman issued a statement Monday that did not address the discrepancy.State officials also argued that the Postal Service continued to deliver the flyers even after being warned on Thursday that state officials objected to the mailings and being told Friday that litigation was pending.“The challenge of removing these Notices from the mail stream arises because of Defendants’ own conduct in continuing to place them in the mail stream after being put on notice, and being told on Friday that litigation was imminent,” the filing said.Dunn said the Postal Service delivered postcards on Saturday despite being aware of the lawsuit because the cards had been put into the mail processing system before 1 p.m. Friday. The flyers were pulled from the Denver distribution center when officials there learned of the lawsuit.The next hearing in the case is set for Friday.Close

GET BREAKING NEWS IN YOUR BROWSER. CLICK HERE TO TURN ON NOTIFICATIONS.XBy | | The Denver PostA federal judge on Monday upheld his order that the U.S. Postal Service stop delivering flyers with what the state says is misleading information on voting in Colorado, even though the Postal Service says about 75% of those flyers already have been delivered.Between about 1.8 and 2.4 million postcards were delivered to Colorado residents last week before U.S. District Court Judge William J. Martinez issued a temporary restraining order at 6:55 p.m. Saturday stopping the mailings, according to court...

Federal judge: Mailing misleading voter information constitutes irreparable harm to Colorado

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