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Postal Service plan would deny mail voting to uncooperative states

Postal Service plan would deny mail voting to uncooperative states

The Postal Service would block mail ballots in states refusing to surrender voter registration data, disproportionately harming workers, elderly citizens, and…

A Postal Service proposal threatens to strip millions of voters of mail ballot access by weaponizing federal authority against states that resist surrendering voter registration databases, a maneuver civil rights organizations warn would disproportionately harm working families, elderly citizens, and communities of color historically reliant on mail voting. 🔹 What happened: The Postal Service announced a rule conditioning mail ballot processing on states transferring voter registration databases to federal authorities. In 2020, approximately 85 million people voted by mail — 46% of all votes cast — with mail voting enabling 60% of voters aged 65 and older to participate. The proposal effectively grants the agency power to reject ballots in jurisdictions refusing the data transfer. 🔹 Key players: The Postal Service frames the proposal as security-oriented. Democrats, Common Cause, and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights condemn it as deliberate electoral obstruction. Democratic-led states oppose it on data privacy and electoral sovereignty grounds. Republican leaders have not publicly committed to rejecting the measure, signaling tacit acceptance. 🔹 Why it matters: Workers without standard schedules, elderly voters, people with disabilities, and rural populations depend disproportionately on mail voting access. A state-by-state restriction would create a two-tier system: cooperative states with full access, resistant states facing federal barriers. Voters in states rejecting data-sharing would face de facto disenfranchisement. The measure would gut mail voting precisely for populations most dependent on it — working people unable to leave jobs on election day and voters with mobility constraints. 🔹 What to expect: The public comment period will generate responses from states, election officials, and civil rights organizations. Federal litigation is virtually certain before 2024, focusing on whether the Postal Service has authority to condition postal services on state compliance with data demands. Courts will likely analyze whether the rule violates the Fifteenth Amendment and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, both protecting electoral access. 📌 EPM Take: The Postal Service proposal subordinates electoral access for millions of working voters and seniors to federal data demands, reproducing the historical playbook of selective geographic voter suppression. ✍️ EPM Editorial Desk | erickprometeomedia.com
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