
USPS mail boxes in Longmont, Colorado. Photo: Matt Jonas/Digital First Media/Boulder Daily Camera via Getty Images
Jena Griswold, Colorado’s secretary of state, announced Saturday that her office filed a federal lawsuit against the United States Postal Service over pre-election mailers that contain "incorrect election information" for the state.
What they're saying: "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," Griswold said in a statement.
- "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. My office asked USPS officials to delay or not send the mailer in Colorado, but they refused to commit to that."
- "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.”
The other side: David Rupert, a postal service spokesman, told the Denver Post that thousands of Colorado households have already received the mailer, with the rest set to get them next week.
- He said the mailer is part of a national campaign to "educate the public on the Postal Service’s role in the mail-in ballot process."
- “Some of it applies to everybody and some doesn’t," Rupert told the Post. "It’s meant for people to prepare.”
- "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."