Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold has filed a lawsuit against the US Postal Service, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and other USPS officials regarding a flier the USPS delivered to Colorado residents with inaccurate information on the state’s voting system, CNN reports.
Attn voters! You may receive a USPS mailer instructing you to request a mail-in ballot. You DO NOT need to request a ballot. Ballots will be mailed to all active registered voters beginning 10/9. Check your registration & ensure you are mailed a ballot https://t.co/uwtyIbA41x. pic.twitter.com/qbb9Ts7e7n
— Colorado Sec. of State (@COSecofState) September 12, 2020
The fliers delivered to Colorado residents advise voters to request an absentee ballot at least 15 days before Election Day, a statement that contradicts state election policy, potentially confusing people and risking their ability to get a ballot.
“These false statements will confuse Colorado voters, likely causing otherwise-eligible voters to wrongly believe that they may not participate in the upcoming election. This attempt at voter suppression violates the United States Constitution and federal statutes and must be stopped immediately,” the complaint from Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold and filed in Federal District Court states.
Griswold said in a tweet that she and other Secretaries of State asked DeJoy for the ability to review the flier before it was distributed, but DeJoy refused and opted to distribute the inaccurate flier.
DeJoy had stated in August that he intended to send information to every household with information on mail-in voting, but he did not specify what that information was. With each US state and territory having different rules, a generic flier was incapable of containing correct information.