Dem
47
GOP
53
Donald Trump has ordered the USPS to refuse to deliver election ballots in states that won't turn over lists of voters to him (so he can remove Democrats from the approved list). All of the blue states have refused to do so. Postmaster General David Steiner said that he would comply with Trump's order, even though he didn't have to. He apparently just thought it would be a cool thing to do.
Yesterday, a federal judge shot down Steiner's plan. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan issued a ruling blocking it nationwide. Previously, a judge in Boston had blocked it, but only for two dozen states. Now it holds for the whole country.
If the USPS rule had held, it would give the federal government an unprecedented role in running elections, something the Constitution grants exclusively to the states.
Sullivan's order is based on a lawsuit the NAACP brought against the USPS in 2020 due to a policy that slowed mail delivery as the election approached. Due to the COVID pandemic, many more people were using mail-in ballots than previously. The lawsuit was aimed at preventing the USPS from slowing down the mail at a critical time. The NAACP and USPS settled the lawsuit with an agreement. Sullivan ruled that the agreement is still binding and the proposed USPS rule would violate it. The last word here has probably not yet been said. (V)