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- A US federal court has temporarily halted controversial operational changes at the US Postal Service.
- Several states had sued the plans.
- They saw the plans as a politically motivated attack on the post office and feared this would lead to delays in the delivery of the ballots.
Judge Stanley Bastian issued a corresponding court order in Yakima in the case, which is directed against President Donald Trump, Postmaster Louis DeJoy and the Federal Post Office itself.
The 14 complainant states had shown that the defendants were “involved in a politically motivated attack on the efficiency of the postal service,” according to the court. They also claimed that “this attack on the post office” will likely “irreparably damage” the ability of states to hold the November elections. In fact, there has already been damage: mail delivery is slowing down, which probably affects the delivery of ballots as well.
The states also required that all post-election mail be treated as first-class mail and that remote mail sorting machines needed for on-time mail delivery be replaced.
Democrats use vote-by-mail more often
Voting by mail is of particular importance in the United States this year. Significantly more voters than usual are expected to use this medium to avoid a possible coronavirus infection in front of or at polling stations.
However, Trump has repeatedly warned that the election outcome could be affected by vote-by-mail. It did not provide any proof of this. Experts say otherwise.
Recent municipal and local elections have shown that Democratic supporters are proportionally much more likely to use the mail vote than those who vote for Trump’s Republican Party.
