AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine is joining a coalition of states in taking legal action against the Trump administration over U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and mail-in voting, Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey announced Tuesday afternoon.
The federal lawsuit, led by Pennsylvania AG Josh Shapiro, challenges nationwide operational changes at the Postal Service and will seek to halt unilateral changes at the Postal Service to ensure safe, secure vote-by-mail across the country.
The Maine AG's office says Pennsylvania and Washington are filing separate, complementary, legal actions in the coming days. Joining Maine in the Pennsylvania-led legal action are the attorneys general of California, Delaware, Massachusetts, and North Carolina, with more potentially to sign on later.
Earlier on Tuesday, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy announced he will delay changes to the Postal Service until after the election to "avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail."
Since DeJoy's appointment in May, service and policy changes have been implemented that limit staffing and overtime, slowing down mail delivery.
“The Trump Administration’s attempts to incapacitate the Post Office in the lead up to the 2020 general election constitute a clear effort to interfere with Mainers’ ability to vote safely by mail. Moreover, many Mainers, particularly in rural areas, rely on a fully-functioning postal service for essential needs from prescription drugs to social security checks,” Frey said. “These actions are unlawful, which is why I am joining a coalition of my colleagues across the country to protect the operation of the postal service and to hold the Trump Administration accountable.”
The multi-state lawsuit will assert the Postal Service unlawfully implemented widespread changes to mail service nationwide. The suit seeks to immediately reverse the agency’s actions, and guarantee safeguards and standards for election mail.
The attorneys general will assert that the Postal Service has acted outside of its authority to implement changes to the postal system, and did not follow the proper procedures required by federal law.
The Washington Post first reported that 46 states and the District of Columbia were sent letters from the Postal Service, warning that some ballots may not be counted in the upcoming General Election. Maine was among the states that received the unprecedented correspondence.
The letter, dated July 29, explains Maine’s election laws concerning deadlines for requesting and casting mail-in ballots are “incongruous with the Postal Service’s delivery standards.” Marshall says this “mismatch” creates a risk that ballots requested near the state deadline will not be returned by mail in time to be counted under Maine laws as the USPS understands them.
Dunlap, however, says “this is not new.”
“No two states have the same election laws,” Dunlap told NEWS CENTER Maine. “The laws are literally and figuratively all over the place.”
Dunlap says he’s never seen anything like this before. “I’m puzzled more than anything,” Dunlap said. “We’ve never had this type of correspondence [with the USPS] before.”
Dunlap says while the letter and Trump’s rhetoric against mail-in voting is alarming, “we can grapple with it,” and says it’s an "unwelcome distraction."
“I think voters can be confident right now that election officials around the country […] are standing ready, along with us in Maine, to make sure that people can participate in their democratic form of self-governance and do so with confidence.”
Maine Sen. Angus King said while he's glad DeJoy said the changes to the Postal Service would be suspended until after the election, he's waiting to see follow-through.
"While pleased by today’s announcement, I’ll withhold any celebration until I hear from my constituents that they are being reversed in practice, not just in word, and that service has been restored," King said. "In the meantime, Mr. DeJoy should not escape scrutiny as to the motivation for his actions, and I will be watching his Congressional testimony in the days ahead closely.”