Not just the postal service: Trump campaign aimed at steering boxes in combat states

The Trump administration has been facing heavy criticism this week over allegations that it intentionally weakened the postal service in an attempt to reduce post-in voting. But an equally consequential battle is taking place in the courts.

Donald Trump’s campaign for re-election follows legal action to block the use of safe ballots in the martial arts state of Pennsylvania, an action that could predict similar fights in the country.

The lawsuit seeks to prevent the use of the boxes – which voters can use to safely withdraw their ballot papers at locations such as schools or libraries to be collected by election officials – in the November presidential election.

The move comes amid a rise in post-vote requests during the coronavirus pandemic, as states seek to extend access to voting for voting as a way to protect against the virus.

But Mr Trump has repeatedly attacked mail-in attacks as vulnerable to fraud – without evidence – and tried to limit its use.

Advocates of suffrage have warned the lawsuit in Pennsylvania is yet another attempt by a president to undermine the democratic process and suppress the vote. In a state that the president won in 2016 with only 44,000 votes – as 0.7 percent of the vote – the stakes are high.

“This lawsuit is part of a strategy to make it harder for eligible voters to vote in November – by introducing confusion, eliminating choices about returning an e-mail ballot, and raising worthless questions about the integrity of our election, “Suzanne Almeida, of Commonwealth of Independent Voting Rights Pennsylvania, said. The independent.

“Dropboxes are a crucial option for voters who get their absent votes too late to return them by post. Without drop boxes, some people will be forced to choose between their health and their right to vote – and no one will have to make that choice, “she added.

Concerns about the goal of drop-off boxes have been heightened by figures from June’s primary races, which showed that the number of Democrats who voted to vote by post was more than double that of Republicans – 1 million to 397,000 respectively.

Pennsylvania has introduced a number of voting facilities in the past year to expand mail-in voting, including the introduction of dropboxes across the state. In other states where the boxes are used, it is not uncommon for half of all emails sent through them to be delivered.

The struggle for their use has been urgently added in recent weeks amid repeated attacks by Mr. Trump on post-in-votes and attempts to address the possibility of the postal service to deal with them.

In recent weeks, Mr. Trump has blocked the emergency funding requested by the USPS deal with an expected increase in voting per post due to the coronavirus, and even explicitly linked the decision to his desire to use mail. -a votes in the forthcoming election.

Already facing a funding crisis, the postal service was plunged into further chaos by sweeping changes introduced by the new postmaster general Louis DeJoy, a Trump donor who took office in May. The new measures caused backlogs of mail during processing in the state, including in Pennsylvania, and caused concerns that the chaos would negatively affect the upcoming elections.

Dropboxes were seen as a potential alternative for voters who want to use post-in ballots to vote safely and prevent possible delays in the postal service. And although they are new to Pennsylvania, they are used throughout the country, in Democratic and Republican states. In the last presidential election, about 16 percent of American voters used dropboxes, most of them concentrated in Washington, Oregon and Colorado.

As more states look to expand their use, they are already entering a new battlefield in the struggle for access to suffrage – largely along partisan lines. The Republican of Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose announced last week that he would prohibit the provincial election boards from offering more than one single ballot box for elections in the pivotal swing state, subject to time constraints. Similar actions have also been taken in Missouri.

And in the past week, they have become a target for Mr. Trump.

Some states use ‘dropboxes’ for the Universal Mail-In Ballots collection. So who will ‘collect’ the ballots, and what can be done about them before it is tabulated? A regular election? So bad for our Country. Only absinthe moods acceptable! “Mr. Trump said on Monday.

The trial of the Trump campaign in Pennsylvania, filed in late June, claims that election officials in the state “Have sacrificed the sanctity of voting persons on the altar of uncontrolled post-voting and have exponentially improved the threat that fraudulent or otherwise unjustified votes will be cast and counted in the forthcoming general election.”

The package, which is supported by the Republican National Committee and Pennsylvania Republican MPs Glenn Thompson, Mike Kelly, John Joyce, and Guy Reschenthaler are trying to ban voting back to any location other than the Election Bureau

It states that allowing the use of dropboxes “will allow illegal absentee and mail-in votes, voting ballots, and other fraud to be prevented and / or undetected, and will result in dilution of valid getten votes.”

But like Mr. Trump’s attacks on mail messages, Republicans are unable to substantiate their full warnings about voter fraud. De case hit a roadblock last week after a federal judge ruled that the Trump campaign should provide evidence that post-in-ballots and drop-boxes are vulnerable to fraud.

“The court finds that instances of voter fraud are relevant to the claims and defense works in this case,” wrote Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan, a Trump nominee, adding that “plaintiffs will produce such evidence in their possession, and if they have none , say so much. ”

Earlier this month, a federal court ordered the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania to intervene in the NAACP Pennsylvania State Conference, Common Cause Pennsylvania and the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania.

The ACLU filing accuses the Trump campaign of trying to “restrict Pennsylvania’s constitutionally protected voting rights by preventing the use of location for ballot papers.”

It adds that the lawsuit will “primarily involve people of color and medically vulnerable individuals, who are experiencing disproportionately higher rates of infection, illness and death due to the pandemic and serious risks to their health and the health of them. communities as they vote in person. “

Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP, said in a statement that a victory for the Trump campaign in the case “has the potential to add another layer of complexity to the voting process in Pennsylvania” amid a pandemic.

“Once again, we see a conscious effort by the Trump campaign to stop the voting and voting of constituencies from across the country,” he said. “If we are to have a safe and fair election, post-voting and secure ballot papers must be protected in this unusual time.”

Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey, who is speaking out about the attacks on the USPS, said the efforts together were “sabotage”.

“In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is more important than ever for Americans to be able to vote without risking their health and safety to vote in person. The president’s lawsuit against drop-off ballot boxes in Pennsylvania is just another one of his schemes to steal these elections out of fear of losing it, ‘he said. The independent.

“It is clear that the president wants to undermine the election by sabotaging the US Postal Service, refusing funding, dismantling vital services and spreading lies about non-existent mail-in voter fraud. By his own admission, his intention is to make it harder for Americans to exercise their right to vote. “These deliberate actions endanger our democracy,” he said.

As more states look to expand the ways in which their residents can safely vote in the November elections, the fight over dropboxes could still spread across the country.

Republicans are also involved in several legal battles to limit the expansion of post-in ballots in general, prompting many states to increase their efforts to encourage residents to vote early.

“Regardless of what happens in court, voters must make a plan to vote, by mail or in person, to ensure that their votes are heard on election day,” said Almeida, of Common Cause. “Our Government ‘of the People” is stronger and more representative than any voter can participate. “

The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment. The state of Pennsylvania declined to comment because of the ongoing lawsuit.