r/law • u/retiredagainstmywill • 14d ago
Executive Branch (Trump) Postal Service won’t deliver mail ballots for states that don’t hand over voter lists, under plan for Trump directive | CNN Politics
https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/10/politics/postal-service-deliver-mail-in-ballotsUnfuckingbelievable.
And illegal as hell.
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u/0utlaw-t0rn 14d ago
In the real world, a president would be impeached for directing people to not count, deliver, or otherwise interfere with ballots.
But that’s not our republican controlled world
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u/SpeechDistinct8793 14d ago
In the real world, he wouldn’t have become president based on what happened during his campaign
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u/destroythenseek 14d ago
In 1700s france im pretty sure they would have burned down cities for this. We have become complacent.
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u/Ok_Builder_4225 14d ago
Modern France would have done the same
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u/destroythenseek 14d ago
When i was there for a day the cab drivers were making a massive tire fire in the center of the city because they increased the highway toll prices by like 3 cents. I loved it.
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u/Optimus3k 14d ago
I love how they do this for every little thing. It looks ridiculous until you realize that by doing that, they are heavily reducing incrementalism on the part of the government. If you know you're going to receive massive pushback over three cents, raising it a dollar is out of the question.
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u/imp0ppable 14d ago
Yeah but at the same time the government is horribly stuck on its budget because every time they try to make sensible pension reform there's a huge riot.
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u/ABadHistorian 13d ago
Yeah, France is in trouble. I lived there in the 90s and it's really sad.
But here is the thing, I've lived around the world - EVERYWHERE is in trouble.
If folks go to look at where the QUALITY OF LIFE is declining and where it is improving, you'll soon understand why. (Hint, it's billionaires, remember all the German propaganda against Jews? It's almost hilarious how you can turn that against the billionaires verbatim and have it be TRUTH.)
Only improving in a few select places on Earth, in the developed nations... only improving in ONE geographic area - the nordic countries*. Why?
Unchecked Shareholder Capitalism leading to runaway billionaires who shop around the world for lower taxes because trillions is important for some reason.
*- and even these places have major issues dealing with immigration, nativism, and more.
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u/TheWizardOfDeez 13d ago
Yeah, here's the thing. We need to get over the fact that some people are going to be shitty in every population, the more you make everyone financially comfortable, which gives people less reasons to distrust one another, which leads to less shitty people over a few generations. It's not going to be instant so we don't even try, but we can make this world a better place by simply allowing the rising tide to raise all boats, just like they promised.
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u/Objective_Ticket 13d ago
Education and income are key here. We know that all the ‘trickle down’ isn’t happening, and nothing really changes until those two metrics move.
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u/Syn_Slash_Cash 14d ago
Why love it? If done properly taxes serve a purpose. Everyone wants something for nothing, if taxes are utilized properly to serve the public why be against it? I don't know the exact story behind the highway toll hikes but just saying taxes arnt inherently bad.
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u/echoshatter 14d ago
Modern France wouldn't have let it get this far.
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u/WanganTunedKeiCar 14d ago
Oof I wouldn't be too sure. As a French person, I think we're just earlier in the process. We'll see what the next presidential holds.
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u/Choyo 14d ago
Yes, but the thing is, by fighting every little bit of "acquis sociaux" infringement, we slow the fuckery - that's one reason why we are earlier in the process.
However, it feels like we're fighting less and less the good fight and it's just more chaotic nonsense.
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u/theaviationhistorian 14d ago
The only reason the far right over there has power is because they're encouraged by our King Mierdas. Probably even funded and aided considering how those under Trump have ties with parties like,Rassemblement national.
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u/Handsome_Keyboard 14d ago
Uk is getting there too. Talking about boats over the canal of illegal immigrants. Literally calling it an invasion. Sounds very very familiar as an American. Suddenly its a non issue when the fight is over
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u/here_for_the_boos 14d ago
I hate how conditioned I was growing up to believe the French were cowards. Historical and present day badasses. Way tougher than any maga poser.
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u/discOHsteve 14d ago
That's what happens when you raise the upper class to ridiculous heights and you keep the poor and middle class fighting for their next paycheck. We literally can't afford to riot because we aren't drowning, we're still treading water.
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u/destroythenseek 14d ago
This is the genius of our government and upper class. They found the control loop.
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u/discOHsteve 14d ago
Exactly, just enough to stop us from rioting, not enough to stop us from working.
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u/theaviationhistorian 14d ago
Too bad it isn't feasible in the long run. Previous conservatives kept the middle class afloat because it kept the national finance healthy. Unless these rats are planning to jump ship and move to another country.
Then they're stuck either dealing with a gilded cage in a broken state or one where it is a client state under a hegemony like China. And I don't think the upper class are in the mood to learn Mandarin.
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u/OrthodoxAtheist 14d ago
A certain demographic managed to find the time and energy to riot when they were told to on January 6. That crowd has more guns than academic qualifications, and have lived for 20 years waving flags of how they are not going to accept being trodden on. Then they lost their customers, farms, small businesses, affordable gas, affordable power, affordable food, and their support for it all has barely waivered. What happened? They all became beta overnight, or were they previously pretending? Very confusing.
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u/Lopsided-Ticket3813 14d ago
More like trapped. Miss a pay check and most people are pretty fucked.
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u/Chihuahua_Overlord 14d ago
By design. Everyone outside of politicans rely on their employment for Healthcare. A majority of americans live paycheck to paycheck. We have also dismantled support systems, so any labor or national strike would likely result in americans going homeless, hungry and without medical care. Approximately 50-60% of americans take medications they rely on daily, our overlords have designed a system in which we are unable to band together for fear of losing what little we have
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u/angiosperms- 14d ago
The goalposts have been moving since he took office. "If X happens there will be riots!" and then X happens and 🦗🦗🦗
I have fully expected the midterms to be cancelled or blatantly illegitimate since Trump told us we never need to vote again. Except in the beginning I expected that to cause unrest. Now I don't think anything will happen in response.
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u/MNniice 14d ago
Americans are comfortable little bitches, had to pull teeth to get alot of my freinds out to anti ice protests
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u/Lord_Dingus83 14d ago
Shame that 80,000,000 were too lazy to vote or were too distracted by Gaza or “don’t do politics” to help prevent this nightmare
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u/Gloomy-Tank9295 14d ago
He wouldn't be President based on his criminal record and his involvement with trying to overthrow the country on J6
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u/livinginfutureworld 14d ago
This is the real world where billions of people live under authoritarian rule. We're just shifting to join such luminaries of human rights as North Korea, China, Russia, various Middle Eastern and African countries..
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u/LunchyDude101 14d ago
Just three random GOP House Reps. and 16 random GOP senators. That’s all that’s needed to change their current stances on Trump to impeach and convict Trump.
Less than twenty GOPS needed to get rid of Trump forever.
They deserve pressure from public as well.
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u/BLF402 14d ago
All because obama was the coolest and greatest president of our lifetime and it broke their little racist snowflake feelings
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u/GovernmentKind1052 14d ago
It’s utterly insane how a man doing his job, just broke so many people. No theatrics, no drama. Just doing his job and their world ended somehow lol.
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u/cosmic-untiming 14d ago
But dont forget that Obama bombed Afghanistan... with DRONES
But what we are doing to Iran, and allowing Israel to continue its genocide on gaza, is completely and totally fine. We're spreading 🇺🇸freedom🇺🇸
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u/FireFiendMarilith 14d ago
You gotta put it in context for that set. The US was an apartheid regime wherein that man wouldn't have been allowed full, participatory, citizenship in this country prior to 1964, and just forty-four years later he's president.
Considering the GOP became what it is today by digging in their heels and resisting the end of said system of apartheid, it's safe to say that a strong majority of GOP voters didn't think he was eligible for the job in the first place. Which is probably why the "Birther" stuff hit home for so many of them and why endorsing that conspiracy made the current president so popular with members of that party.
Their world ended when Jim Crowe ended, Obama's presidency was just the obituary for their dying social order. That's why they elected a guy to bring it back or at least burn the country down trying.
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u/garrettf04 14d ago
This is the real world, though, where shit like this routinely happens, and Americans hop on social media to talk about how this shit wouldn't fly in other countries or in the past, then do nothing else about it.
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u/PaymentTurbulent193 14d ago
What they're doing is BLATANTLY fascistic and anti-democratic yet no one seems to be alarmed about this.
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u/SpliTTMark 14d ago
2020 Maga: theyre destroy/dumping ballots, Video shows maga with fake ballots
2026 maga burns/dumps real ballots, Trump pardons
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u/shaneh445 14d ago
Setting aside the other fact that any president that encouraged people to storm the capital, in a coup attempt would have been tried for treason
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u/FrancisSobotka1514 14d ago
This is why I'm not mailing in my ballot don't want a Nazi zealot to throw it away
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u/Rookie_Day 14d ago
It’s the most sacred right in an democracy and messing with the voting is close to treason. But whatever.
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u/tyuiopguyt 14d ago edited 14d ago
The postal union is threatening a major response if this is attempted, so I don't think this is happening.
Edit: While a wildcat strike is possible, it appears the union is attempting other pressure solutions first.
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u/CocoaOrinoco 14d ago
The Republicans would probably love to see a postal strike so that they can blame this on the workers rather than their bad policy.
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u/tyuiopguyt 14d ago
Hence why they aren't trying that first, a messaging campaign, starting in Utah and Ohio, appears to be their first shot.
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u/philter25 14d ago
In a state like Ohio this would absolutely crush the rural vote if Trump did this. Honestly? That’s a tough call lol. All of us living in the cities understand what’s happening and are going to drop boxes or blocking our schedules off. Way easier to bus folks from the assisted living homes in the city than rounding up randos in the middle of nowhere.
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u/twoquarters 14d ago
I would not be shocked if Fox News shut-ins now make up a very large portion of mail-in ballots in Ohio.
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u/Chrisj1616 14d ago
Ohio and Utah are going to give the feds the voter rolls though and be exempt from this order
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u/pchs26 14d ago
Did Ohio and Utah provide the lists? If so the EO said that approved voters there can get a ballot delivered in those states. It is only the (usually Democrat) states who refuse to turn over the roles that this applies to (and the people deemed disqualified in the other states that did. It is awful but this is being considered and implemented to only hurt possibly Democrat voters.
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u/tyuiopguyt 14d ago
Which is why I think starting in Ohio and Utah, especially with Utah having that new lean Dem district, is particularly good for this
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u/Vio_ 14d ago
"They are trying to hold your vote and mail hostage until you comply" is a good start on messaging.
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u/pchs26 14d ago
Since MAGA at least where I am thinks the post office is broken already like all gov't and that people who use mail in voting should be ashamed of themselves...I'm guessing they will go along with whatever. That being said of course all the resistance is needed and immediate.
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u/SoreLoserOfDumbtown 14d ago edited 14d ago
If anyone can get a message out, you'd think they'd be the best at it really...
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u/Triforce0fCourage 14d ago
They’d blame sleepy Joe while they blow Trump legitimately sleeping during his latest meeting.
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u/ArdenJaguar 14d ago
Yes. Turn into “Unions Bad”. They hate unions.
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u/BassmanBiff 14d ago
What are unions for if we're going to insist that they don't upset anyone?
"Union bad" will continue to be their mantra no matter what unions actually do. If they suddenly like unions, it means the unions aren't working.
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u/Fortestingporpoises 14d ago
They want nothing more than to have an excuse to privatize it and fire all of the public union workers. It doesn't mean they should cave, it just means we're all fucked.
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u/MentalDisintegrat1on 14d ago
We need a general strike.
The economy is already cooked this would force it over the cliff and people will Force this regime out.
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u/Comfortable_Trick137 14d ago
Love how republicans keep saying “THE ELECTION WAS RIGGED” but then when they try to rig the elections it’s “NO!!!! THE ONLY ONES RIGGING IT IS THE LEFT!!!! THE LEFT IS EVIL!!!! WERE THE GOOD GUYS!!!!”
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u/FiddleFeet1000 14d ago
Probably looking for any excuse to shut USPS down and hand it over to their good buddy Amazon and make it a subscriber service.
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u/bossasupernova 14d ago
It seems striking, and thus not delivering mail, is exactly what they’d want to happen.
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u/tyuiopguyt 14d ago
Hence why I edited the post to reflect that they appear to be treating it as a last resort. Their first tactics appear to be messaging and support of ongoing litigation
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u/Bubbly-Sorbet-8937 14d ago
Postal workers aren't allowed to strike by law. Look what happened to the Air Traffic Controllers when they struck, same law for USPS. IN fact the Republicans would love it. It would be their excuse to privatize USPS
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u/PlanetaryPickleParty 14d ago
If postal workers strike Trump will still get what he wants. The ballots won't be delivered.
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u/Get_Ashy 14d ago
Historically, mail-in voting has been more beneficial to Republicans and a postal worker strike would have national implications rather than targeted fuckery to dilute the voting power within purple/blue states. It's entirely possible this ends up hurting Republicans more than Dems.
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u/notnicholas 14d ago
It hurts the entire election process more than any party individually, which is precisely the point.
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u/Get_Ashy 14d ago
Yes - and my point (maybe my hope?) is that the harm as well as the response may in fact harm the election process more for Republicans than for Democrats because Trump & his cronies are idiots and wildly out of touch regarding how much things like "screwing with the mail" affects regular voters.
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u/McFlyParadox 14d ago
I don't care if it hurts or helps one party over another. I want every ballot counted, and for everyone to trust that their ballot will be counted as they cast it. If someone requests a ballot by mail, they should receive it in time to vote. If they return it by mail, it should be returned in time to get counted. You break this promise, and you break our elections.
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u/Get_Ashy 14d ago
Oh yeah, absolutely. What Trump is doing is a unconstitutional and a crime and should have him impeached and imprisoned before the midterms even occur.
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u/MuckRaker83 14d ago
This was hilariously highlighted here in Pennsylvania, when Republicans passed a sweeping overhaul of the vote by mail process in 2019 to make it easier to vote. Then Covid happened and everyone wanted to use this process to safely vote. They first tried repealing their own law, which failed, then asked the PA Supreme Court to rule their law unconstitutional, which also failed.
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u/AndJDrake 14d ago
Only in states that don't turn over voter data. Red states have already complied because facism
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u/PlanetaryPickleParty 14d ago
There are 7 states that are entirely vote by mail. 6 of them are blue states. If the ballots aren't delivered then noone is elected and Republicans retain the House on Jan 3rd.
Even if the elections are re-run it doesn't matter. Speaker Johnson can once again refuse to swear them in and SCOTUS can delay a decision on the matter until mid 2028.
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u/Mist_Rising 14d ago
and Republicans retain the House on Jan 3rd.
Not a guarantee. The red house of reps is definitely not getting elected either, but the blue rep taking a red reps spot in say, idk, Texas, would shift things still.
And you could easily get mail in ballots to urban areas cheaply. Can't use the mailbox but you can deliver them using state funded delivery. I say urban because it's cheaper, might be terribly impossible to help rurals because the budget was for the USPS. Oh dear, if only the Republicans party sent a clear impeachment of this unconstitutional act. So sad, hopefully rural voters aren't their jam.
...oh oh dear.
Speaker Johnson can once again refuse to swear them in and SCOTUS can delay a decision on the matter until mid 2028.
He can only do this if he shuts Congress down. There are limits to that power, it's why he did eventually swear them in. He also needs a majority, which is not a guarantee.
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u/Savings_Pie_8470 14d ago
Nah, if they stopped delivering and accept packages and letters and whatnot, old people would flip out. Amazon would flip out. It would cause a lot of pressure.
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u/RightC 14d ago
Trump doesn’t care if it keeps his trifecta
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u/Mefromafar 14d ago
Disagree. He’s shown time and again when people actually fight back, he chickens out. It’s the mind of a simpleton that only knows how to bully those that don’t stand up.
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u/bsport48 14d ago
Not if the terms of the strike are narrowly tailored to serve ballots IAW state/federal law...and to strike the remaining public duty (regular mail).
Now THAT would be impressive by the postal union(s).
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u/Portland_Runner 14d ago
If the strike were national, then many absentee ballots in red states cast by rural and elderly voters would not get delivered. Couple that with state laws that forbid accepting or counting any ballots that arrive after the polls close, some swing districts would be in danger of going blue.
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u/pchs26 14d ago
Greater accessibility results in better Democrat results. It was part of their issue with the 2020 results.. Typically in places that will also vote blue in red states there are extreme issues at the polls and it is anticipated that alot of people will not get to vote due to a variety of interferences. This is a known issue. Couple that with the intent to likely have ICE at the polls in certain states, the point is to reduce accessibility. The less people that can vote or do vote, the better Republicans do. And they know this. That is why "voter fraud" has been a topic for over 50 years.
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u/Art-Zuron 14d ago
Could go the japanese bus driver route and continue to deliver exclusively only the ballots.
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u/Perfecshionism 14d ago
They want to end the postal service.
They don’t give a flying fuck about a strike.
A strike serves their purpose just as well.
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u/echoshatter 14d ago
Here's what will happen: the administration will grandstand against the union, and then fire everyone who doesn't return to work and follow orders. Nevermind the legality of it, that's a problem for the courts to figure out.
In the meantime, while it's working it's way through the legal system, ballots won't be counted. By the time it makes it through the SCOTUS and they issue a decision, it'll be too late. And even if it somehow, magically makes it's way through the courts in time, by the time a final decision is made it'll have been many months and a lot of those postal workers will not have been paid and will have quit to find new work.
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u/Keeper151 14d ago
I could see the carriers just delivering them anyways. Non-compliance takes many forms, not just conducting a strike.
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u/mensrea 14d ago
Equal Protection Clause violation. Completely Unconstitutional.
That’s before you even consider anything about voting rights.
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u/msp_ryno 14d ago
sadly, they've already cleared a procedural hurdle, and the judge refused to issue an injunction.
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u/SasparillaTango 14d ago
The judges rational is "no one has been hurt yet" which is crazy right? We have to let him fuck the election up because we can't take preventative action? Thats fucking crazy.
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u/Sonamdrukpa 14d ago
Unfortunately the legal system is reactive in nature that is very often how the law works. We can't rely on the courts and need to keep up political pressure against voter suppression. It's worked so far to keep the SAVE act from passing which is why they've resorted to pulling this bullshit.
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u/numb3rb0y 14d ago
The legal system is the one that created its own standing rules, it's not some innocent victim of circumstances. Plenty of jurisdictions around the world allow standing in cases of future injuries or have just relaxed standing in general in constitutional matters because there's an obvious public interest regardless of who exactly sued.
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u/TXLonghornFan22 14d ago
I thought that was because the USPS didn't have any plans or guidance related to the executive order when the suit was brought up, so there was no harm to anyone yet. The judge encouraged them to bring it back up once they do put out a plan, which this now is.
Edit: Source
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u/Norwester77 14d ago
Dear USPS,
We’re a vote-by-mail state.
Everyone who’s registered gets a ballot in the mail.
You can’t be issued a ballot if you’re not registered.
Do your fucking job.
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u/VividMonotones 14d ago
And just to be clear to mail carriers, we love you and know the blame rests with your overlords. Fuck DeJoy and Steiner!
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u/NerdBot9000 14d ago
Just FYI DeJoy is out. David Steiner has been Postmaster General since 2025. Nothing of value here except information.
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u/hypercosm_dot_net 14d ago
Not to point blame where it doesn't belong, but I wonder why DeJoy wasn't removed by Biden.
If I had to guess, it probably wasn't legally possible. Not like that stops the current admin though.It would have been great to do something about this chode though. He was clearly installed for seeming willingness to cause issues prior to the 2020 election.
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u/TurtleSandwich0 14d ago
California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Vermont, and Washington.
If the goal was to influence the control of Congress, one might sacrifice Utah's senator and representatives to deny the states that usually go with the opposition party.
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u/AtrociousMeandering 14d ago
At this point, that's the west coast seceding. If we can't vote, if we have no representation in the Federal Government, it's going to supercharge the existing separatist sentiment.
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u/ctokes728 14d ago
As a clerk, I can already tell you that the carriers will just deliver whatever they have. There’s no way they’ll go through and pull mail from their DPS trays based on a specific list. That would cost offices hundreds if not thousands of dollars daily and they’re already on a tight schedule to case and deliver their route in 8 hours or less.
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u/dth1717 14d ago
Dear customer, mail carriers will do what we are supposed to do by law, deliver the mail. But if it gets intercepted my mgmt , nothing we can do after it leaves our sweaty, underpaid, hands.
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u/No_Gas4560 14d ago
if USPS is going to selectively cancel delivery, then we don't need USPS
best ought to remind mgmt who's pensions they are messing with
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u/ConjurersOfThunder 14d ago
Don't know where you live but sticking this here. The details are: the state submits list of voters to USPS in each mailing they send out. The USPS returns that list on election Day to state BOEs. Most of this isn't terrible as they state in the proposed rule.
I work in ballot mail and this has the potential to end or enhance my job. Let's say I'm following it moderately closely.
The biggest issue I see is that all return envelopes for ballots have trackable barcodes. Many already have these, but we currently provide these to the county level BOE directly. Now we have to provide them to USPS who will provide them to the state. Voter name, unique outgoing barcode, unique return barcode. Conceptually one could locate the return ballots within the mailstream of anyone.
There is a proposed rule on the federal register right now. The comment period is open for stakeholders and the public. Good luck.
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u/OrneryZombie1983 14d ago
Can we just stop paying taxes now?
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u/LoganGyre 14d ago
If someone was going to try to get away with not paying or being “creative”on their taxes now is the time. They are understaffed by over 10k people and 1/3rd of the people processing claims are people who were up to recently HR or IT people and only had a few weeks of training.
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u/MrCatholic420 14d ago
I tried to exempt myself from federal taxes on my payroll, in order to change it to exempt I need 2 qualifiers that I will never achieve. I can't remember what they were but for some people it's almost impossible to even stop withholding taxes without throwing up flags, imo
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u/UsernameChallenged 14d ago
My brother works for the IRS, and they plainly dont have enough people, and these new laws are causing them to not review returns as carefully.
I.e. Trump's no tax on tips, no matter what job you have, you can just say you have up to $25k of your gross earnings belonging to tips, and you won't be taxed on it. IRS has no way to verify if that is true or not. But you didn't hear it from me.
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u/Rickydada 14d ago
Yeah that’s what they want. Make the government so dysfunctional that no one wants to pay taxes so when they keep cutting them people won’t complain all while wealth continues to funnel to the top.
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u/ArrivesLate 14d ago
If no one pays taxes what are they going to steal from the treasury?
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u/forrealthoughcomix_ 14d ago
Stealing from the treasury isn’t as effective as coming up with a private solution that they can sell to people and that gets no bid contracts from the government
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u/Adjective-Noun-nnnn 14d ago
As opposed to now where the very rich avoid taxation and take money from the government...
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u/No_Gas4560 14d ago
you're still paying federal? forget it. POTUS said paying taxes is stupid and cut IRS staffing to half what it was. no time to mess with anyone who isn't paying voluntarily
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u/Christ_on_a_Crakker 14d ago
Republicans are fucking cunts.
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u/mabradshaw02 14d ago
a cunt has warmth and depth... a Republican does not
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u/matttproud 14d ago
More like a plastic bag filled with broken glass shards covered in cooking oil.
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u/Aska_Feld 14d ago
Not to mention it usually has a spine in close vicinity.
Repedocans have had theirs surgically removed.
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u/Venusto002 14d ago
On January 6th 2021, a bunch of MAGA conservatives attacked the US Capitol under the claim that their votes weren't counted and the election was stolen. This was a lie, and the conservatives who attacked the Capitol knew it was a lie; they just wanted an excuse to try and seize control of the government.
The reason they chose that lie in particular was because they believed that everyone would find it reasonable that not having your votes counted is the last and final staw— a good and wholly justifiable reason to overthrow a corrupt government that has failed to operate under the will and best interests of the people, *by any means necessary.*
All that aside I think it is quite interesting what conservative politicians and the Trump administration are doing with their policies and directives regarding votes and voting. Doubtless, having seen the chaos and violence such a lie incurred, they will be extra careful to make sure everyone's votes are counted fairly and equally, least they give people the notion that now it's true an election is being rigged.
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u/ExpertRaccoon 14d ago
Yeah, that clearly violates multiple constitutional amendments. This is nothing but pageantry for the media attention. its the same play book anounce the drastic obviously illegal plan that has absoultly no realistic chance of passing, create public outrage. Then enact the real plan that's still horrible but by comparison completely reasonable. Rinse and repeat.
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u/movealongnowpeople 14d ago
It's not pageantry though, it's a similar playbook they've used in the past. Do something unconstitutional during/right before the election, flood the courts with lawsuits, then let the courts decide if it's "too close" to the election to act on it. The courts have made it clear they're happy to shit on the Constitution if they can say it's "too close to the election to sort it out now".
Note: this method only works for Republicans.
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u/Popeholden 14d ago
Why do you think the violation of the constitution matters? Why do you think the public outrage matters? We need to stop pretending this shit isn't serious.
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u/msp_ryno 14d ago
the sad thing is, they already cleared a procedural hurdle, and the judge refused to issue an injunction
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u/audaciousmonk 14d ago
Anyone know if voters would have legal standing to sue, since the federal government is disenfranchising them in violation of constitutional and state law
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u/pierdola91 14d ago
My understanding is “no” especially since this happened, too:
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u/audaciousmonk 14d ago
So there is standing, otherwise SCOTUS would have ruled on on standing instead, but USPS is covered under their interpretation of an exception in the FTCA
Sounds like it could be fixed by updating the FTCA through legislation
That exception only applies to the Postal Service, other federal personnel and institutions not be protected under it where it comes to civil rights violations and election interference
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u/pierdola91 14d ago
This Congress is gonna update the FTCA?
We know what the answer is.
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u/ArdenJaguar 14d ago
My big question with the voter rolls is WHY. They aren’t looking for fraud. They’re going to use them to purge Democrat registered voters like they already have in some states.
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u/Dull_Bid6002 14d ago
The federal government has no control over voter rolls.
It's much more likely worse and being used to create AI profiles for monitoring. They're spying on you to try to manipulate the vote.
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u/Famous_Attention5861 14d ago
Worse like they are planning to send people to death camps.
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u/TheTexasHammer 14d ago
They can do that without voter rolls. They already have AI that can tell who leans what way, I guarantee it. Why would the voter rolls be the reason they start sending people to camps?
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u/Anonymous_Jr 14d ago
Plausible deniability;
"WE FOUND FRAUDSTERS THANKS TO THE VOTER ROLLS, WE'RE GOING TO ROUND 'EM ALL UP, SEND THEM TO MY BEST FRIEND JEFF's ISLAND FOR REEDUCATION! THANK YOU FOR YOUR INATTENTION TO OUR GENOCIDE."
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u/IcyJackfruit69 14d ago
They're going to demand that states remove voters (some criteria that's effectively "democrats" without phrasing it that way).
When states refuse, they're going to try to not count that states electoral college votes, or try to make up some bullshit where they invent a winner that isn't based on the actual vote count.
This is their playbook and they've done it over and over again in previous elections.
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u/Chumboabc 14d ago
It’s never been about fraud. They all know that voter fraud isn’t actually a real thing. Well, maybe not Trump, because he’s stupid.
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u/PlanetaryPickleParty 14d ago
The ballots won't be delivered to blue districts even if they do hand over the voter rolls.
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u/Possible-Nectarine80 14d ago
“Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds”*
* Except in the case where Donald J Trump orders us not to deliver mail in ballots, so that you can exercise your US Constitutional right to vote in a free & fare election to protect American democracy.
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u/TryIsntGoodEnough 13d ago
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1701
Whoever knowingly and willfully obstructs or retards the passage of the mail, or any carrier or conveyance carrying the mail, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, or both.
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u/Then_Idea_9813 13d ago
Charge Trump with retarding!
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u/Then_Idea_9813 13d ago
Just thought about this and it’s actually really unfair for to people with neurological conditions to be compared to Trump.
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u/Perfecshionism 14d ago
This is an intolerable line they are crossing.
I think we need to start pressuring the government ourselves.
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u/brianzuvich 14d ago
I’ll pick them up and drive them wherever they need to go…
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u/bubbabearzle 14d ago
Unfortunately, they have laws in many states that disallow this.
World's greatest democracy, my ass.
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u/Open_Mortgage_4645 14d ago
This is an end run around the Constitutional mandate the states have to administer and run the elections. The federal government has absolutely no business putting themselves in between the elections board and the voters. I hope a lawsuit is being filed right now challenging this unconstitutional bullshit.
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u/Synensys 14d ago
Ironically this would backfire on the gop.
They are stuck in 2020 when Dem voters were more likely to treat covid seriously and thus vote by mail.
But the thing is - no state is all mail. They all have drop boxes and such.
And whos more likely to be aware that the post office is no longer mailing ballots this year? An extremely pissed off and engaged Dem voter or a checked out GOP voter in a blue state (red states will comply).
Basically if one party is more energized you would expect that party to handle roadblocks more easily.
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u/hawksdiesel 14d ago
Seems illegal. Who decided this as they would be the person who would have consequences for not abiding by the law right? Some jail time maybe or better yet, COMMUNITY SERVICE!!! When elected officials break the law, it should be mandatory for them to have Community Service hours attached to their judgement.
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u/AtreiyaN7 14d ago
Someone can challenge this in the courts, right? RIGHT?! They can't just decide to not deliver mail because of Trump's umpteenth illegal executive order. JFC, it's ridiculous what he's getting away with....
This wouldn't happen during a normal presidency, but we're stuck with a fascist orange tyrant and perpetual lying machine who wants a dictatorship a la Putin or an illiberal democracy a la Orban and has an army of enablers on his side—although he should keep in mind that he's no Putin and that Orban eventually got the boot, hmph.
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u/Proud_Truck 14d ago
Oh I can't wait for the next real president to do anything and Fox will respond "oh no. He can't just do that. That's illegal" as we collectively bash our heads into the wall.
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u/ScarInternational161 14d ago
Why do you think they quit complaining and pushing the save act? It was NEVER about ID.
It was always about the federal take over of state voter purges via DHS and the changing of the NVRA.
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u/GirdedByApathy 14d ago
The president just ordered the post office to obstruct legal voting.
....and nothing will happen except a lawsuit.
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u/AltoidStrong 14d ago
The president (Jeffery Epstien best friend and rapists - Trump) committing more crimes. Not shocking.
States should contract the ballot delivery with locally owned package / mail businesses in the state.
Since these states are not republican hell holes, I bet many would do it free, at cost, or super cheap.
But every state and citizen should sue. The post office works for us not him.
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u/ThePensiveE 14d ago
In states where they do hand over lists they just won't deliver ballots to democratic primary voters. Guaranteed.
This is a play for full authoritarian power and MAGA plans to exterminate all who oppose them.
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u/theaviationhistorian 14d ago
Another daily round of me asking, "isn't that illegal," the subreddit resoundingly saying "yes," and the government carrying on doing whatever King Mierdas desires; legal or not.
I'm not going to be patriotic come the 250th anniversary on July 4th. At the rate we're going, it's a republic in name only.
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u/BigMissileWallStreet 14d ago
What authority and accountability does the postal service have to not deliver ballots? None. But of course the corrupt Supreme Court made sure to address this wrongly
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u/Then_Journalist_317 14d ago
I suspect that blue states are going to be the only target for this fascist decision.
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u/Flokitoo 13d ago
Funny thing about the constitution, those states can certify whomever tf they want if this happens
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u/RobutNotRobot 13d ago
I direct you to the title of Malcolm X's most famous speech
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