At the hearing on Thursday, Chief Justice Stanley Bastian of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington urged the Trump administration and the Democratic Attorney General to bring the case to a head. He also signaled to the Postal Service not to file lawsuits with procedural fights that could upset voters.
“We do not have much time between now and this election,” Bastian said. “I think everyone on this call wants their vote counted.”
“Everyone in this country relies on the Postal Service to do their job,” Bastian added. “I hope that at some point in the Postal Service we will not hear many procedural or jurisdictional arguments, but some assurance to the American public that the Postal Service is up to the challenge of providing ballot papers to voters and back to the sets so they can be counted. “
The coalition of 14 states has asked the Postal Service to share how it enforces the recent promise of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy that disruptive policy changes will be waited until after the election. The states are also asking the Postal Service for details on how it will handle nationwide ballot papers – as a marketing post or a post with a higher priority.
The trial is still in its early stages, but the evidence and answers from the postal service will be available to states from September 6.
The Trump administration’s attorney, Joseph Borson, argued that the administration had plans to contest the states’ ability to bring the lawsuit, and he reminded the judge that DeJoy had testified and plans to give Congress an update on Monday.
Thursday’s hearing was the first after several groups, individuals and states accused the Postal Service, its leadership and the Trump administration after news of the delay and the statements of President Donald Trump who doubted the vote by mail. Thus, it was the first time a federal judge had waited for one of the most politically charged disputes related to voting in 2020.
The 14 states – all with Democratic attorneys general – accused the Trump administration and the Postal Service earlier this month of making allegedly erroneous changes to e-mail services that disrupted mail approval. They say recent testimony from Congress of DeJoy did not clarify what the Postal Service is doing now.
“This problem, the lack of information, is created by the suspect,” said Kristin Beneski, a Washington State Attorney. “The facts are shifting daily under our feet. … There has not been much clarity by the Postal Service itself.”
Beneski pointed out in reports that the Postal Service can still ship its trucks on strict schedules, instead of allowing them even five minutes to ship mail arriving late in the day. “Is this a completely top-down national policy if local administrators have any insight?” Beneski asked.
Regarding the prioritization of election post, Beneski said DeJoy’s comments that all ballot papers should be treated as a priority, contrary to what he said in recent letters to state leaders. In those letters, DeJoy said ballot papers could be considered as a marketing item, meaning they take longer to be delivered to voters and then back to election officials.
.
