I oppose the proposed rule by the Postal Service as outlined in 39 CFR Part 111 on mail-in ballots and the USPS’s involvement in election administration.
Election administration is by the Constitution a state function. No role for the Executive Branch is set even by implication. Federal-level mandates that override state and local procedures exceed the claimed authority and must be rejected as illegal, unconstitutional, and improper.
More to the point, contrary to what is suggested, this proposal is not about clarity or efficiency or any other bureaucratic excuse. It is, rather, an attempt to force states to provide to the Executive Branch voter information to which it has no right at a cost of being unable to engage in mail-in voting.
That is, as practical fact its intent is to aid and abet the White House in its avowed campaign to disrupt, undermine, and ultimately eliminate mail-in voting. By this proposal the USPS has made itself a partner in a blatant, politically-motivated attempt to federalize and so exert centralized control over the process of voting - and so has embraced, even if (we can hope) unknowingly, this significant threat to the informed public needed for a functioning democracy because once the principle is established that the agency can and will pick and choose who can receive mail based on the personal preferences and prejudices of the White House, where is the cut-off? Where is the limit?
Which in some ways is the heart of the objection: The proposed rule change brings shame and disgrace to the honored history of the USPS. It changes its famous, even if informal, motto that begins “Neither snow nor rain nor heat” and its notable dedication to providing mail service even to the remotest parts of our nation into vapid politicized slogans.
Reclaim your tainted honor: With draw this proposed rule change. Preferably with an apology.
Thank you for considering my comments.
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