From APWU.org

Last week we saw many developments in the Trump administration’s ongoing effort to discredit Vote-by-Mail and postal workers’ commitment to serving the American public.

On Monday, Aug. 24, the Supreme Court lifted a lower court’s injunction that had prevented the Postal Service from implementing Executive Order 14399. On Wednesday Aug. 26, the Postal Service officially published its final rule, prompting a new wave of lawsuits challenging the attacks on mail-in voting. And on Thursday, Aug. 27, 24 states and a number of voting rights organizations were granted a temporary restraining order putting the postal rule on hold. Another court hearing is set for Sept. 3, but for now, the Postal Service’s implementation of the executive order is stalled.

While the legal challenges are driving headlines and creating confusion about the viability of Vote-by-Mail for this upcoming election, it’s important for postal workers to make our position absolutely clear:

This executive order is wrong and unconstitutional, and so is the Postal Service’s rule. They are based on a problem that is not real. Across decades, thanks to the hard work of countless postal workers, hundreds of millions of Americans have safely and securely exercised their right to vote through the mail. Allegations of widespread election mail fraud are quite simply false. And, if implemented, the Postal Service’s rule may create safety concerns for APWU members who will be unfairly blamed for voters not receiving their ballots.

Furthermore, postal workers have not yet been trained in the Postal Service’s proposed new method of handling Vote-by-Mail and can’t possibly be sufficiently trained in time for the midterm elections. This creates a false impression of ineptitude on the part of postal clerks, when the real problem is postal management creating an impossible atmosphere for success.

The Postal Service is failing the test of common sense by asking postal workers to verify voter eligibility, when that authority is clearly vested by the Constitution in each state’s board of elections. Our job is to deliver America’s mail, not to decide who can receive mail.

Make no mistake, postal workers don’t deliver only Democratic ballots or Republican ballots. We take an oath to support and defend the Constitution, and we share your anger at Washington trying to take away mail service from states and counties. We take pride in our commitment to serve every American and our patriotic duty to move election mail as swiftly and securely as possible.