Colorado Politics

Colorado blocks inaccurate election post cards, reaches deal with the post office

The Colorado Secretary of State’s Office accepted a settlement from the U.S. Postal Service, but it was a moral victory nonetheless, as political organizations won’t be able to send false election information this year.

In the settlement reached in federal court in Denver, the U.S. Postal Service agreed to destroy mailers delivering inaccurate voting info, presumably attempts to confuse voters and suppress turnout. Colorado’s secretary of state and attorney general will have the “unprecedented” opportunity to review the materials from national organizations for accuracy.

Secretary of State Jena Griswold and Attorney General Phil Weiser, both Democrats, filed the complaint in U.S. District Court in Denver on Sept. 12 when inaccurate post cards were discovered, and the court issued an temporary restraining order to prevent the delivery of any more of the misleading post cards.

“Voters deserve accurate election information,” Griswold said in a statement Friday. “The terms of the settlement mandate that all reasonable effort be taken to remove all undelivered misleading mailers from the mail stream, and it requires collaboration between the Colorado Department of State and the USPS to make sure all future Postal Service communication includes correct information.”

Weiser said Friday, “I will continue to fight for Colorado to prevent the Postal Service, or any agency, from hindering Coloradans’ right to vote and am pleased we reached an agreement that results in the misleading notices being destroyed and giving Colorado the unprecedented ability to review and improve future media campaigns by the Postal Service related to election.”

The agreement does not prevent the state from raising the issue again, if the post office doesn’t hold up its end of the bargain, Griswold’s office noted.

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