DENVER -- Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold announced Saturday her office filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Postal Service over a pre-election mailer being mailed out to every postal customer.
Griswold contends that the USPS mailer is misleading and will cause confusion for Colorado voters.
“The mailer incorrectly asks that voters request a mail ballot 15 days before the election and return their ballots by mail at least seven days before the election. In Colorado, every registered voter is sent a ballot without having to make a request and voters are urged to return ballots by mail sooner than seven days before the election,” Griswold wrote in a statement released Saturday.
I just found out the @USPS is sending this postcard to every household and PO Box in the nation. For states like Colorado where we send ballots to all voters, the information is not just confusing, it’s WRONG. (Thread) pic.twitter.com/RoTTeJRJVl
— Jena Griswold (@JenaGriswold) September 12, 2020
Late Saturday evening, Griswold tweeted that a judge has granted Colorado a temporary restraining order, preventing the postal service from sending out the mailer to Colorado voters.
James Boxrud, a USPS spokesperson, told Denver7 in a statement that the postcard is part of a non-partisan campaign that the agency launched to educate the public on the upcoming election.
“The non-partisan campaign neither encourages nor discourages mail-in voting; rather, it is designed to reach and inform all voters about the importance of planning ahead if they plan to vote by mail,” Boxrud said in a statement.
Griswold claims USPS officials refused to delay or stop the campaign in Colorado since the information provided in the mailer does not apply in the state.
“As the Chief Election Official of the state of Colorado, it’s my job to try to stop misinformation and any unnecessary election confusion. The importance of this election, combined with the fact it is being held amidst a national pandemic, further heightens the need to provide correct voting information to Coloradans. That is why I am filing a lawsuit against the USPS to cease this mailer and help shield Colorado voters from this misinformation,” Griswold said in a statement.
