AUGUSTA, MAINE –Secretary of State Shenna Bellows issued the following statement in response to Postmaster General David Steiner declaration to lawmakers Wednesday that the U.S. Postal Service will decline to deliver mail-in ballots in states that refuse to provide sensitive voter data to the federal government, despite numerous court decisions ruling in the states’ favor. Today, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani ruled that the federal government cannot decide who can vote by mail.
“Never in the history of the United States has the U.S. Postal Service declined to mail ballots for political reasons. In Maine, many voters including seniors, people with disabilities and Mainers working multiple jobs rely on the mail to get and return absentee ballots,” said Secretary Bellows. “The idea that the U.S. Postal Service would refuse to deliver any ballots in a state where we have properly refused the Trump Administration’s demands for voter data is an illegal and unconstitutional attempt to keep Americans from voting. We’ve won every court case on this issue, and we’re not going to back down now in defending Mainers’ voting rights.”
According to federal law: “The Postal Service shall have as its basic function the obligation to provide postal services to bind the Nation together through the personal, educational, literary, and business correspondence of the people. It shall provide prompt, reliable, and efficient services to patrons in all areas and shall render postal services to all communities.”
30 states have declined to share state voter lists with the federal government. The states have won nine lawsuits where the Department of Justice has sued to compel the states to hand over the voter lists. The DOJ has not won any of the voter data lawsuits, although they have appealed the rulings to higher courts.
Earlier this week, federal courts struck down key provisions of both of the Trump Executive Orders pertaining to elections including the Executive Order that directed the U.S. Postal Service to change its rules to limit voting by mail.
“Trump and the Postmaster General are trying to bypass Congress, the Constitution and now the courts in their attempts to block voting by mail. We’re not going to let them get away with this. We’ll do everything in our power to make sure every Maine citizen is able to cast their ballot in November,” said Secretary Bellows.
The court rulings finding the Trump Executive Orders unlawful and unconstitutional were pursuant to lawsuits in which multiple states including Maine teamed up to challenge the constitutionality of what President Trump has tried (and now failed) to do through Executive Order to control how states run elections.
The USPS has issued a draft rule attempting to compel states to submit lists of voters who are voting by mail to the federal government for pre-approval. Secretary Bellows is joining many other states in sending objections to the federal government, which are due on July 2.
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