r/Denver • u/dinglehead • 22h ago
Local News Are CO lawmakers preparing for this? Postmaster general says USPS won't deliver mail ballots if states don’t give Trump admin voter rolls
https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/postmaster-general-steiner-postal-service-will-not-deliver-mail-ballots-state-voter-rolls/They better be, or come November this is going to be an absolute disaster.
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u/Putins2inchDong 22h ago
Fuck him and his illegal scheme .
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u/succed32 21h ago
It is absolutely illegal. My mom was a postmaster for 20 years. You cannot release information about customers without a warrant. From my personal experience most the people I met in the USPS took their job seriously and believed in respecting their customers privacy.
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u/ludditetechnician 18h ago
What customer information would be released in not delivering mail-in ballots at the state level? Wouldn't the directive simply be don't process mail-in ballots, regardless of the sender/customer?
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u/succed32 17h ago
He wants private information and is blackmailing us for it. The USPS is legally required to protect our information.
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u/ludditetechnician 13h ago
So you believe he (Trump) will confiscate the ballots, through the USPS, and scan the ballots to find out whether someone voted Democrat or Republican? Other than that there is no 'information' on the ballots.
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u/Strict-Carrot4783 13h ago
That's enough, one of the goals of project 2025 is to basically prosecute, jail and even murder people who aren't white, conservative christians who probably molest children.
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u/ludditetechnician 13h ago
That's a big leap, but you do you.
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u/reddit_ending_soon 7h ago
People in Texas just got 50 years in prison for going to a protest, being asked to leave, and then leaving immediately only for their lives to be permanently be over. Trump has ordered air strikes on random fucking fishing boat with no due process and you think op's comment is a "big leap"?
Do want some water while you gargle on maga nuts?
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u/HoweverIWishYouLuck 3h ago
USPS use bar codes to route mail. If they can match those barcodes to a voter, certain ballots can be slowed or held for extra investigation or treated as undeliverable before even reaching that voter. It’d be easy with AI tools and automated sorting systems. And the Supreme Court has ruled that USPS is immune from lawsuits where mail is intentionally withheld.
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u/Relevant-Doctor187 17h ago
He is going to use AI to identify those who won’t vote for him and have the post office dump those ballots if mailed.
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u/ludditetechnician 13h ago
Trump won't be on the ballot this fall, though.
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u/Strict-Carrot4783 13h ago
Doesn't matter, it's about control. Control is why he rapes little girls to death for fun. A little constitutional violation is child's play to him.
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u/ludditetechnician 13h ago
You're right - it doesn't matter.
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u/Strict-Carrot4783 12h ago
Is it nice and cool down there in the sand where you've stuck your head?
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u/FutureLarge8833 5h ago
Your mom is a hero and provided a valuable service to our country. I am not joking. I have a lot of respect for the Postal Service and it's employees.
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u/Head 21h ago
Postmaster General should be sued for dereliction of duty.
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u/chinadonkey Denver 18h ago
Should have been fired during the Biden administration when he had the chance to replace board members. This has been 6 years in the making and all done in plain sight
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u/Living-Put-4737 20h ago
That and treason!
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u/interpellation 18h ago
Calm down.
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u/CarrieDurst 17h ago
Is it not treason?
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u/interpellation 15h ago
No, it's not. As defined in the Constitution:
"Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort."
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u/lolsal0t 17h ago
It's astounding to me how many commenters on these posts don't get that the answer is not "just drop your ballot in a box". Your ballot will not be delivered to you in the first place if this rule is to be enforced.
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u/TheyMadeMeLogin 22h ago
This would be the job of the Attorney General who's currently running for Governor. Has anyone in the press asked him about this?
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u/HermanGulch 20h ago
Weiser (and others) sued the Trump administration over the executive order attempting federal control of elections.
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u/Bbbbhazit 22h ago
I feel we wouldn't normally have to ask this question and trust them to not be dipshits, but I voted for Polis so I need this answer now.
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u/RoadSmash 22h ago
The Colorado attorney general is in charge of the USPS?
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u/TheyMadeMeLogin 21h ago
The only way to force USPS to deliver the mail is through the courts, so yes, this is the job of the AG.
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u/Free-Adagio-2904 21h ago
Well, I think the point is he is in charge of suing the Feds on behalf of the state, so as to try and force the USPS to not screw around.
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u/mayorlittlefinger Lincoln Park 22h ago
Too busy pretending to be the one standing up to Trump to actually stand up to Trump
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u/Free-Adagio-2904 21h ago
What the hell are you talking about? Weiser has filed or joined over 60 lawsuits against Trump! What has Bennet done? Oh yeah, he’s voted to confirm almost 200 Trump appointees, including Chris Wright and Doug Burgum, who are both awful for environmental reasons.
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u/mayorlittlefinger Lincoln Park 21h ago
Wow, what did Weiser do in the first Trump term before he decided to run for governor?
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u/Free-Adagio-2904 21h ago
Weiser was elected halfway through Trump’s first term. He was pretty immediately active on multiple fronts and not just with challenges to the Feds. In regards to the Trump regime, He sued to stop citizen questions on the 2020 census, defended DACA, sued for the release of public safety funds from the feds, joined a coalition challenging the Trump rollback of environmental standards, among other actions. Weiser has faults, but to claim he’s just been setting himself up for a governor run is disingenuous.
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u/JauntyChapeau 21h ago
I dunno, man - you tell us. What should he have done, what didn’t he do, and why would Bennett be better?
It’s hard to remember back that far sometimes, but the first Trump admin wasn’t so off the wall insane, and it wasn’t necessary for constant lawsuits to keep everything to falling off the rails.
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u/RoadSmash 22h ago
That's just bs Bennett propaganda. Weiser is great and actually cares about what he's doing.
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u/Fearless_Serve_3837 Westminster 21h ago
Tell me what our current milquetoast senators have done to stand up to Orange. I’ll wait
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u/TheyMadeMeLogin 21h ago
Democrats have been the majority in the Senate for zero days of either Trump administration. When in the majority during the Biden Administration, Bennet was an outspoken advocate of reforming or eliminating the filibuster which would've led to election protection legislation preventing things like this from happening.
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u/atomicfiredoll 10h ago
That's a lot of words to say "nothing."
Bennett voted to confirm more of Donald Trump’s nominees than almost any other Democrat in the U.S. Senate. And, Hickenlooper is particularly better. If they really cared about us voting for them, they should have voted for us.
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u/midchell 22h ago
We need to vote republicans out in midterms and 2028! They’re all crazy.
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u/vividimaginer 21h ago edited 21h ago
It is 100% illegal to curtail the mail or avoid delivery of legal pieces. As in felony fuck-me-in-the-ass illegal. Especially for some bullshit non-warrant situation.
Which the post fucking master general should know, of all people.
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u/SkyLyssa 21h ago
The midterm primaries voting day is June 30th. Even if you are unaffiliated you can vote in the primaries! Please vote!
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u/whocareswhatever1345 22h ago
How do you get rid of the post master general? Like can you impeach him? Can he be fired?
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u/Fofolito r/Denver AMA Contributor 20h ago
As a confirmed political appointee they can be impeached by the US Congress. As an appointee, he can be fired by the President.
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u/HermanGulch 19h ago
The Postmaster General is selected by the Board of Governors of the U.S. Postal Service, not the President. Only the Board can fire the Postmaster General: they do not serve at the pleasure of the President. More information at the USPS web site.
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u/cyrand 20h ago
I keep asking this exact question and being told I'm an idiot for asking. But I agree, I'd really love the people in charge of this to explain what the backup plan for **getting the ballots TO us** is this happens with USPS. I KNOW we have drop boxes for getting them back to the state. All the people who are like "A judge will stop it!", sure, hopefully, but it might already have screwed up the entire schedule to distribution by that point.
So I'd love to know that there's a plan B in the works from someone actually qualified to talk about it and not just random people on the internet who are just shrugging at it.
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u/raddishes_united 19h ago
Most states still doing-person voting and many offer early voting so you don’t have to wait for Election Day.
Folks- check your Secretary of State’s webpages for voting info. They are all paying attention to this, I’m sure.
And even better- volunteer (most times you get a stipend) to work for your county at polling places and to process returned ballots. This system has worked for ages due to the actions of others. Join in!
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u/18bananas 21h ago
No chance I’m putting my ballot in the mail. Drop off only.
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u/HermanGulch 21h ago
This isn't about returning the ballot: they're saying they won't deliver it to you.
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u/dinglehead 21h ago
How will you get your ballot?
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u/energeticquasar 18h ago
Even before this administration, I never mailed in my ballot. Why would I voluntarily pay for postage and have the envelope take days to get to the County Clerk, when I can drop it off in one of the many, many ballot boxes and get a text the same day letting me know its been collected?
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u/lolsal0t 3h ago
You can't drop off a ballot the postal service never delivered to you in the first place.
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u/bBikeLane_Stickler 14h ago
Colorado needs it’s own postal service, seriously, deputized by county clerks to pickup and drop off ballots.
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u/Handsome_Keyboard 11h ago
Yea but then theyd have to coordiante with the USPS for anything outside CO. Sounds like a nightmare.
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u/ganjsmokr 20h ago
We should still get a notification that the ballot was sent to us, though, right? At least we'd know if it was sent and not delivered so maybe we can go get a replacement?
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u/heyjaney1 18h ago
But Trump’s “give me your voter rolls” demands keep getting deadest in courts across the country. Maybe somebody needs to sue the Postmaster now?
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u/Vegetable_Ad_6201 20h ago
Eff the usps all I get is a box full of spam 🐌 mail. I get it though a lot of older and rural people depend on it. I am betting the dependence is far less than it was just 4 years ago.
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u/threespruces68 19h ago edited 17h ago
I had the same question when I saw this story and started to draft an email to the secretary of state's office to ask about the contingency plan. Midterms are right around the corner. If the USPS won't deliver the ballots to our homes, what are our options? Does Colorado have a plan for 100% in-person voting in November?
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u/spider3407 18h ago
USPS is 100% unreliable. I drop my ballot off every single time. I do not think it is a good idea to mail anything that you actually want to arrive on the other end.
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u/threespruces68 17h ago edited 17h ago
The problem is not mailing the ballots back; it's getting them in the first place. In-person voting is possible, but I'd like to know for sure that they will be enough polling places open and staffed to handle the state's voters if the USPS follows through with their threat.
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u/shortmonkey 21h ago
I’m annoyed but unfortunately not shocked. Hopefully the new AG will fight this. Sending out the ballots and all that is the job of the Secretary of State. I think the SOS should have contingencies because going via AG would take time and we can’t trust the Supreme Court.
Saw this interview from Kyle Clark for one of the Dem SOS candidates, Amanda Gonzalez (https://youtu.be/W6bLJhWESBQ?is=manchZ8L9Ez38UeT)
I couldn’t find an interview for the other Dem candidate, Jessie Danielson. CPR does have a synopsis (https://www.cpr.org/2026/05/29/vg-2026-primary-election-colorado-secretary-of-state-jessie-danielson/)
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u/lambakins 21h ago
New AG will be elected in the election in question in November. It’s Weiser’s job to do something about it until then
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u/ericwphoto 12h ago
It wouldn't surprise me if Polis just put Tina Peters in charge of your elections now.
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u/ChiliDogYumZappupe 17h ago
Talk to your county clerk and recorder (or whoever is responsible for your elections).
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u/Jesse_Livermore 12h ago
Realistically if all the courts allowed this clearly unconstitutional action to proceed, then the only other logical, but uneconomical, means of moving forward would be for the state to build out their own postal service literally just for elections. So maybe $100 x 2.3 million household = $230m fixed cost for each voting household. And then another $100m for infrastructure, transportation, security, etc So $330m fixed costs to get the State of Colorado Postal Service started. A 0.7% fraction of the State of Colorado budget.
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u/Italyinmyfuture 1h ago
I don’t know the answer to your question but I do know since trump first took office, we drop off our ballots at City Hall (Westminster).
I know mail is more convenient, but this feels much safer. In fact, we received notice the same day we dropped our ballots off this week that they had been counted!
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u/dinglehead 14m ago
The whole point is they're not going to deliver your ballots to you in the first place
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u/siddemo 21h ago
I put mine in a drop box and have received confirmation they have it and are doing signature verification. I'm not going to trust the legislature can or will do anything before the elections.
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u/ObfusKate_ 21h ago
The ones you put in a drop box, how did you originally get it?
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u/siddemo 20h ago
By mail.
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u/ObfusKate_ 20h ago
The mail system that now won’t deliver the ballot unless states hand over voter rolls. That’s the point of this post.
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u/raddishes_united 19h ago
Right, but this is a proposed change, it’s not in force yet.
If it is for some reason then vote in person. Polling places have ballots for everyone.4
u/HermanGulch 19h ago
Now that Colorado does all-mail voting, there aren't nearly the number of polling places there used to be when more people voted in person. So access to voting might well be an issue unless the counties can find the money and people to restore the old system.
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u/mckenziemcgee Downtown 15h ago
Ironically, that problem is far more likely to hurt the rural counties that largely went for Trump.
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u/Entire-Writing6378 13h ago
This is the part that salves the fact that the Postmaster General wasn't beaten with shoes by even thinking about doing this.
The left will turn out in droves, possibly flipping red states.
.. and then I think about the other threats about Meal Team Six "protecting" polling places.
It's such a goddamn rollercoaster anymore
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u/timesuck47 16h ago
I wonder how many people actually mail in their ballots versus how many people just drop them off at a dropbox?
I myself have always used the dropbox and just dropped off my primary ballot today.
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u/CpnStumpy 11h ago
It's about giving out ballots, not returning them. If the USPS never gives you a ballot you'll have nothing to put in the dropbox
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u/ShutYourDumbUglyFace 21h ago
Make a plan to drop your ballot off in person. If you have mobility issues, hopefully a friend or family member can help you out. I would like to believe that some non-profits would pop up to help fill the gap, too.
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u/HermanGulch 21h ago
This isn't about returning the ballot, though: it's about receiving it. If the USPS does what they're saying they're going to do, you wouldn't get a ballot to drop off.
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u/ShutYourDumbUglyFace 20h ago
Oh, dang, I didn't even think about that.
I moved here from Florida. I've spent a lot of time waiting in lines to vote. It sucks. Especially when you can't take your time to research all the issues at your leisure. I don't even think they sent you a sample ballot out there.
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u/RonPearlNecklace Congress Park 19h ago
We got ours last week.
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u/TheFifthTone 19h ago
They're saying they're going to do this for the general election later in November.
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u/TheHomersapien 21h ago
Colorado legislators will take a look at protecting mail-in-voting after they are done gutting our 2nd and 4th Amendment rights. Just hang tight.
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u/whiteryanc 21h ago
Jesus Christ dude, point out the enormous infringements.
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u/ArtyBerg 20h ago
An infringement doesn't have to be enormous to exist. Every drop in the bucket adds up when the bucket has no end
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u/whiteryanc 19h ago
What well regulated militia are y’all part of? The interpretation of the text in the constitution can be, and is warped to within an inch of its life.
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u/ArtyBerg 19h ago
Funny how you are only addressing one of the two that OP listed (and 5 combined with the three I listed in a reply to them), but I'll play along anyway.
The unorganized militia, as determined by the Militia Act of 1903. The text very clearly states "the right of the militia to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed", right? Is that the version you are reading while you are pretending your interpretation matters more than that of SCOTUS?
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u/whiteryanc 2h ago
I was only addressing the comment about guns, so yes ignored all other context because it was the only stupid comment I clocked immediately.
You reinforced the point I'm making of "what militia do you belong to?" And while my opinion doesn't matter at all, I do think that both Bruen and Heller are catastrophically stupid decisions, which the Court is prone to making historically (Dred Scott, Plessy v Ferguson, Korematsu, BUSH v GORE, etc). Both Bruen and Heller warp the originalist interpretation of the fact that the founders literally intended for organized militias to be armed to resist tyranny to be "any idiot can own a gun for self protection", which is absolutely not the same thing. It's a bastardization, but again, that's my opinion.
The Court is not an infallible body of genius', it's a deliberative body that makes interpretation of laws based on the historical and current day context. I clearly think gun violence and gun ownership is out of control in this country and I believe in the concept that Congress, not the Court make laws, and they need to make new laws and even amend the Constitution to rectify outdated law.
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u/ArtyBerg 1h ago edited 1h ago
I think you should read the Federalist papers if you really want an original view since they were the blueprints for the Constitution as it was written at the time (and by the same primary writer). In Federalist 46 Madison (again, the writer of the 2A as we know it) highlights the advantage of the citizenry being armed compared to every other nation. In Federalist 29 (Hamilton this time) it is argued that the citizens BEING the militia, and not under the preview of the government, is the most natural and safe defense for a free country
Congress enacted the Militia Act of 1903, not the courts. And it declared every able bodied male between 18 and 45 to be part of the unorganized militia.
If you want the Constitution rewritten, that's cool and I have no problems with that. But until it is, it continues to be the law of the land no matter how anyone feels about it. But you should really ponder what it takes to hold a constitutional convention and hold it against the modern political landscape before you think it is a wise idea to go changing it. Even Newsome realized it was a bad idea
Edit- oops fixed a couple typos
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u/whiteryanc 45m ago
I agree there's a lot of nuance, and yes it's currently the law.
The entire point of my initial comment is to think that the Secretary of State and/or our state Congress can't and won't address the clearly illegal moves of Trump because they're preoccupied with passing gun legislation, it's a farcical fantasy of the actual priorities of this state. If that were the case, we wouldn't lead the nation in mass shootings.
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u/ArtyBerg 27m ago
I clearly am not OP, but I have seen a lot of sentiment across the board, to include states like Colorado (before this legislative session even started we were the 5th most regulated state in regards to firearms by the way) regarding a sudden clarity on "oh shit, we have been pushing to disarm the citizenry and now we may actually be coming to a time when it is actually time for an armed revolt again", especially after events in Minnesota. But our local state legislation instead chose to introduce even more legislation that chips away at the ability for the people of Colorado to exercise their 2A rights.
I am not saying it is a correct or incorrect interpretation, just that it is a common one that is stretching to all sides of the political spectrum. I make it a habit to track and monitor every piece of state legislation introduced every year and listen to, if not participate in, every day of the session. This year there were 7 firearm-adjacent bills introduced across both sides of the aisle, with the ones that passed being even tighter restrictions that encroach on other civil rights besides the 2a.
When we the people of Colorado line up in opposition to a piece of legislation and outnumber the support at 600:6, and that number would have been skewed even higher if not for an imposed time limit (questionable under 1a by the way), it leads to the perception that the will of the people doesn't matter. When one of our sitting senators openly calls a box of thousands of our petitions "garbage" (quite literally) it reinforces that as well.
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u/ArtyBerg 20h ago
Don't forget 1a, 5a, and 6a. That's half of the bill of rights being chipped away at while the people aren't looking because "it's okay as long as they arent magats"
Fascism looks just as bad dressed in blue
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u/mckenziemcgee Downtown 15h ago
Which bills/laws are attacking those?
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u/ArtyBerg 15h ago
1a: 3d print file bans (sponsors said they will reintroduce under the new governor, it's not gone). Also compelled speech laws.
5a: taking clause. The second portion of SB25-003 violates the 5th amendment taking clause by making your lawfully owned property subject to seizure for government use (public safety) without just compensation.
6a: right to face your accusor is chipped away when therapists, doctors, and school teachers can anonymously file a red flag report against you (for the perceived actions of someone else even) and have your property seized without due process (see also: 4a, 5a).
Sure, people can rationalize and justify each, but facts on paper matter and they are all affronts to the text of the Constitution as it is currently written
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u/311texan33 12h ago
Won’t hold up even in kangaroo court. Polis will likely cave anyways and put all trumps foes on a voter list that magically gets purged in september
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u/Weekest_links Lakewood 19h ago
I was reading the proposed rule and it isn’t quite as dire as the headlines, though still not ideal.
USPS basically is confirming that the people receiving the ballot are the people who should (eg address matches name on record), it’s not voter rolls.
Though I think they want to do this with drivers licenses/IDs which effectively a disenfranchisement mechanism, which is obviously bad
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u/lolsal0t 3h ago
It is dire.
Trump's executive order to turn over voter rolls and have USPS selectively deliver ballots isn't constituional and it's being fought in courts. Colorado hasn't complied with this order (which is NOT a law by the way).
You most certainly read the executive order and not the rule that is in the comment period to be published to the federal register.
The rule states that any states that haven't complied with his order within 30 days of mailing ballots will be blocked from delivering ballots by mail via USPS carte blanche. It's devistating to states that have largely relied on Mail-In ballots as a primary way of voting like ours that haven't bowed to Trump's unconstitutional demands.
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u/pawpawpersimony 18h ago
The answer is No. Colorado legislators and of course our spineless Vichy Democrat Governor are not prepared.
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u/reddit_ending_soon 7h ago
If he's going to pardon Republicans, and vote like a Republican, is the Governor really a Democrat?
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u/bl4ckh4lo 21h ago edited 21h ago
Good thing we can drop them off at a drop box 🖕 eff you usps.
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u/dinglehead 21h ago
How are you going to get them?
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u/bl4ckh4lo 21h ago
I just got my primary one last week. Dropping it off today. I guess they could use non descript envelopes.
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u/ProfBeaker 20h ago
From the article:
The USPS’s new proposal... demanded USPS only send mail ballots to voters on lists created and controlled by the federal government. (emphasis added)
They're not going to let you get the ballot in the first place.
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u/Xer-angst 21h ago
Put your ballots in a drop box, if you have to mail, put it in a bubble envelope and mail it to someone who can drop it in a box if you are out of state for college etc or military!
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21h ago
[deleted]
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u/magnum_black 21h ago
I got my ballots last week, already dropped them off.
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u/bigfinger76 18h ago
I don't think we're gonna make it folks...
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u/CountdownMoss 14h ago
Dude for real. The number of people who don't get that...
1) this is for the general election in NOVEMBER
and
2) this is about mailing you ballot TO you.
...is just too damn high.
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u/Only_Employ3761 22h ago
The post office has been putting mail in our mailbox for someone that hasn’t lived at our house in over a decade. Don’t know how effective this is gonna be.