PA Leaders Blast Changes At USPS, File Lawsuit Ahead Of Election

PENNSYLVANIA — The Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office has joined leaders from 20 states in filing a lawsuit to prevent the U.S. Postal Service from carrying out operational changes they say will jeopardize the mail-in ballot process for the November election.

The lawsuit was followed almost immediately by a statement from U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who said that all policy or operational changes will be suspended until after the election.

Pennsylvania leaders said that until they get further assurances, the lawsuit will proceed.

"From a legal perspective, his actions need to be binding, as well as addressing what happened in the past, going back to July," Attorney General Josh Shapiro said during a news conference. "So if DeJoy is willing to undo the changes he already made, then we'll re-evaluate where our lawsuit stands. Until he makes those steps, we're full steam ahead in holding him accountable in court."

DeJoy said in a statement the changes were in place to "avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail." It comes following national concern over recent changes that DeJoy, a longtime Donald Trump donor, had announced. The operational shifts were expected to significantly reduce the capacity of the Postal Service and included a loss of funding and removal of boxes and processing machines.

The entire process has come under increased scrutiny as health officials encourage residents to vote by mail around the country due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The issue has become drawn sharply on party lines, with many Republicans vocal in their doubts of the security and efficacy of mail-in balloting and President Trump denouncing the process and telling voters to cast their ballots in person.

"As soon as the postmaster general heard we were having this press conference, he (made the decision to release the statement)," Gov. Tom Wolf said during the conference.

Prior to DeJoy's announcement, a spokesperson for the South Jersey and Philadelphia Districts of the Postal Service told Patch that no post office boxes would be removed in the area for the next 90 days as "customer concerns" were evaluated.

Defenders of the move said that the operational changes proposed by the Postal Service were not politically motivated and did not amount to an attack on the election.

"Wouldn't do that," Trump said Monday at the White House, according to the Associated Press. "I have encouraged everybody: speed up the mail, not slow down the mail."

"You can find valid operational reasons for the actions taken by the Postal Service so far," Mike Plunkett, a former USPS executive, told the Wall Street Journal on Monday.

Pennsylvania leaders were adamant that the recent moves represented a grave threat to the country orchestrated by Trump.

"Because of the connection to our democracy, this can only be called a five-alarm fire to our democracy," Sen. Bob Casey said. "I can only draw the conclusion that anyone can logically draw from the president's recent statements ... because mail-in ballots are not good for him politically, he doesn't want the Postal Service to do its duty."

Democratic leaders were also adamant in their optimism that mail-in balloting would be protected, and that Pennsylvanians should not worry about casting their vote by mail.

"Pennsylvanians have every reason to feel confident," Shapiro said. "And know that we're on it."

Officials continue to urge residents to get their ballots in as early as possible, in order to relieve pressure on the mail system. The deadline to request a mail-in ballot is seven days before the Nov. 3 election.

They added that the issue should not be political, and pointed to the bipartisan legislation passed in Pennsylvania in October 2019, before the pandemic, which allowed residents to vote by mail without providing a reason. That legislation was supported by both Republicans and Democrats in Pennsylvania.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi recalled the House of Representatives from summer recess this week to vote on legislation that would add protections to the Postal Service. DeJoy is also due to appear before Congress next week to testify on the changes.

Previously, Wolf had filed a motion in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court asking for the deadline to receive eligible ballots to be extended to Nov. 6.

"(It's a) system established by Benjamin Franklin," Wolf said of the Postal Service.