Florida healthcare union sues Postal Service over mail ballots

[RandySF]

TALLAHASSEE — The union representing Florida healthcare workers on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against Postmaster General Louis DeJoy asking a court to order him to reverse actions that it claims will delay the delivery of vote-by-mail ballots and disenfranchise Florida voters.

The lawsuit, by 1199SEIU, the Florida chapter of the United Healthcare Workers, was filed in federal district court in Miami. It asks the court to order the U.S. Postal Service to disclose information about whether it is complying with its obligations under the law and following recent court orders issued in other states.

For example, the union wants the agency to show that it is processing ballots whether or not the mail has the correct postage, as the courts have required, to describe the process by which it will expedite the delivery of ballots to voters and back to elections offices, and whether DeJoy has restored the sorting machines that were decommissioned this summer and caused delays in mail delivery.

"A common concern I hear from voters I talk to every day is: ‘I don’t trust the mail,’ " said Dale Ewert, executive vice president of 1199SEIU’s Florida chapter. “People have to have trust in the mail and trust in the voting process. We’re running out of time here. We need to have answers.”

Several federal courts have ordered the Postal Service to postpone changes ordered by DeJoy until after the election “because those changes threatened to disenfranchise large numbers of voters,” said Jonathan Manes, attorney at the MacArthur Justice Center, which represents 1199SEIU in the lawsuit.


https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/elections/2020/10/06/florida-healthcare-union-sues-postal-service-over-mail-ballots/

[PSPS]

1. "Several federal courts have ordered the Postal Service to postpone changes ordered by DeJoy"

As far as I know, he has ignored every one of them.

[Awsi Dooger]

2. My ballot in Miami-Dade had no postage required

I'm not sure if that is true statewide

Mostly I am concerned about intentional slow delivery. So far all the small rural counties have been reporting absentee ballots received at steady high rate, while counties key to Biden like Pinellas, Orange and Miami-Dade have reported next to nothing. Granted, Miami-Dade ballots were sent out on the last possible day. That was suspicious and annoying enough. I have no idea about Pinellas but I assume it was similar based on these awful numbers so far, less than 1% returned.

This is a good link below to track the situation in Florida. Return rate so far is 15% for Democrats and 11.6% for Republicans. That's fine but we need the key large counties to demonstrate the ballots are being returned. Otherwise anyone who mails late or moderately late is in trouble. We'll have a better indication in a week or so:

https://electproject.github.io/Early-Vote-2020G/FL.html