USPS agrees to scrap election mailers in Colorado
The pre-election mailers, meant to inform Americans about voting by mail, advise voters to request a vote-by-mail ballot at least 15 days before Election Day and to return the official ballot at least seven days before. Those guidelines, however, don’t align with Colorado election policies.
The state will conduct its general election by mail and will automatically send ballots to voters when they become available. The state also pointed to the part of the mailer that tells voters to send in their ballots seven days in advance, when Colorado voters have the option to return their ballots in person on Election Day.
“The terms of the settlement mandate that all reasonable effort be taken to remove all undelivered misleading mailers from the mail stream, and it requires collaboration between the Colorado Department of State and the USPS to make sure all future Postal Service communication includes correct information,” said Griswold in a Friday statement.
Colorado’s top state officials will also be able to seek court review again if USPS sends election mailers with misinformation to their voters.
Elections are run by state and local governments, as outlined in the Constitution, and it’s not common for the federal government to send election-related information to all Americans.
“We are pleased that through open dialogue and communication with the state of Colorado we have resolved this matter, and look forward to working with the state and others across the country as we prepare for the election,” said USPS in an emailed statement to CNN.
