this post was submitted on 01 Apr 2026
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(iii) Proposed provisions specifying that the USPS shall not transmit mail-in or absentee ballots from any individual unless those individuals have been enrolled on a State-specific list described in subsection (b)(iv) of this section with the USPS pursuant to this subsection.

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[–] snooggums@piefed.world 171 points 1 day ago (3 children)

It will eventually be thrown out in regular and appellate courts after it has had the effect they wanted on the upcoming election. Then SCOTUS will give it a green light because they are part of the authoritarian oligarchy.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 56 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (5 children)

after it has had the effect they wanted on the upcoming election

I don't think the anti-GOP sentiment is confined to elderly liberal voters.

Also, Eight states – California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Vermont, and Washington – conduct what is commonly referred to as an all-mail election, or universal mail-in voting. In these states, voting is conducted primarily by mail, and all eligible voters receive a ballot by default

I'm not sure how post offices in these states could even respond.

[–] sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com 47 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

I'm not sure how post offices in these states could even respond.

By laughing and ignoring it, having the Governors and Attorneys General of those states countermand it with their own executive orders / statements, just straight up saying that this is plainly obviously unconstitutional.

They could then also threaten legal action against anyone at the USPS who does not listen to them.

Its yet another Constitutional Crisis, any way you look at it, but, its not like there's just no possible response.

The President is straight up demanding that Postal Workers engage in a conspiracy to, amongst other things... tamper with people's mail.

So, any manager or supervisor who orders that be done? 30,000 counts of mail fraud, you're arrested and go to jail forever.

Set up a state tip line for USPS workers to report anything like that happening.

[–] knobbysideup@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

This is how all of these ridiculous eos should be handled. It's nuts that everybody is just doing what mango Mussolini decrees.

[–] sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 23 hours ago* (last edited 23 hours ago)

Its nuts, but this is basically just how fascism works.

More than enough people, politicians and the populace, basically just get stun locked by the pure audacity of 'you can just do stuff', as all the 'norms' that were never formalized just evaporate.

The response is at first bureacratic, procedural, untill it becomes extremely obvious that the entire strategy of the fascists is to weaponize everything.

Even then, it tends to take a while for most people and politicians to actually begin to react in kind, strategically, seriously, largely because they are afraid of... further destroying the norms that the fascists already destroyed.

Normalcy bias. "It can't happen here" exceptionalism. Cowardice. Incompetence. Propoganda. Historical illiteracy.

Take your pick.

If state governors were more clever, they'd be coming up with reasons to keep their National Guard busy doing something 'important' in their states, literally just to deny them from being mobilized Federally, or make it more procedurally difficult and more of a PR mess for the Feds to do so.

[–] PapaStevesy@lemmy.world 2 points 18 hours ago

USPS is run by unions, they're not going to give a shit what Trump's letter to Santa says. The State controls the election process, periodt.

[–] DragonAce@lemmy.world 18 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

The federal government has no control over voting, it is 100% controlled by the states. The post offices are not legally allowed to do anything to the ballots other than deliver them.

[–] partofthevoice@lemmy.zip 19 points 1 day ago

They don’t care what they’re allowed to do. They care about what’s technically feasible. They’re exploiting the fact that they can break the law precisely in ways that empower themselves to be above the law before the law can come back around to them. It’s analogous to crowning Trump king and issuing a decree that the transition from president to king was legitimate. What’s the constitution going to do?

[–] snooggums@piefed.world 14 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The effect is sowing further distrust in voting by mail and suppressing the vote of people who are being targeted by the government in other areas. In those states anyone who knows citizens who were targeted by ICE could easily assume the same harassment of citizens will happen with mail in votes as well.

Just because it isn't feasible to implement doesn't mean the chilling effect won't happen.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The effect is sowing further distrust in voting by mail

Colorado and Oregon consistently have some of the highest voter turnout in the country.

Idk if this works in practice.

[–] tburkhol@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

From the GOP perspective, this explains why Colorado is a Democratic island in the otherwise "real American" range states. They probably tell each other that without all the fake, mail-in ballots, Colorado would be as red as Wyoming and Utah.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 9 points 1 day ago

From the GOP perspective, this explains why Colorado is a Democratic island

Colorado isn't a Democratic island. New Mexico and Arizona are also blue states. Nevada's solid purple, regularly sending up a mix of Ds and Rs. There's no shortage of conservatives in Colorado, either. Lauren Boebert is from Colorado, ffs. She's got an enormous constituency of evangelical lunatic supporters and die-hard Republicans. Trump lost Colorado in 2016 by a Gary Johnson's margin. It was straight up winnable back under Compassionate Conservative Bush Jr.

They probably tell each other that without all the fake, mail-in ballots, Colorado would be as red as Wyoming and Utah.

Sure. And Democrats keep insisting Texas is winnable if all the non-voters turn out, nevermind how a rising volume of overall voters only ever breaks for Republicans.

Nevertheless, shutting down mail-in voting in Colorado won't benefit Republicans in any meaningful way.

[–] GuyFawkesV@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

They can respond by just trashing ALL of the ballots - remember the ruling a month or so ago saying they weren’t liable for shit if they did?

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

They can. But will they? These post offices are run by the same people doing the voting, after all.

It's one thing to tell a post office in Utah to trash all the ballots and just hand the keys of state off to the local Mormon Bishopry. Very much another to give the order in Washington State.

[–] GuyFawkesV@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

All it takes is a few traitors at key points.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] GuyFawkesV@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Except Dems always play by the rules, to their detriment. I liked Michelle Obama but that “they go low, we go high” shit has been causing problems for far too long.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Except Dems always play by the rules

No they don't!

They say they do, but they routinely break conventions and norms and laws and constitutional amendments when it's convenient for them and their donor base.

More often than not, they wait for a Republican to do it first and then just keep on keeping on.

But they don't follow the rules. They use the rules to excuse why they refuse to enact popular policies. They deflect and defer and soccer-flop.

“they go low, we go high”

Obama did drone strikes on children.

[–] GuyFawkesV@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago

Good point - “Dems don’t break the rules FIRST” is probably a better way for me to phrase it. But that gets us to the same place. They wouldn’t trash the ballots here until they’d seen proof Repubs did it, and by then it would likely too late to respond tit for tat. Election over; world fucked. But the NEXT time election (in what, 50, 60!years of we’re lucky) we might get something.

[–] OwOarchist@pawb.social 4 points 1 day ago

They say they do, but they routinely break conventions and norms and laws and constitutional amendments when it’s convenient for them and their donor base.

Yep. They'll sure as fuck break the rules when it comes to preventing a progressive candidate from winning a Democratic primary race.

[–] JasonDJ@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Obama did drone strikes on children.

Wrong Obama, but let's put things in perspective here...Trump bombed a girls school in a remote village. Then came back and bombed the rescue effort.

I really wonder what a generation of boys who grow up in a remote village with a shortage of female peers will end up like.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

but let’s put things in perspective here…

"Hey, listen, we're only talking about John Wayne Gacy here. He's no Green River Killer."

[–] N0t_5ure@lemmy.world 13 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Maybe. However, SCOTUS might not green light it. Loot at the ruling on the tariff case. Roberts, Barrett and/or Gorsuch could join with the liberal wing and hold the line. Of course, Trump is still going to try to deploy troops and chaos at polling places to scare off voters. I think the shit is definitely going to hit the fan in the fall.

[–] snooggums@piefed.world 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)

SCOTUS backed down from that one because their billionaire owners didn't like the complete anarchy of the tariffs. This one increases billionaires power over the populace via voter intimidation so SCOTUS will be fine with it.

[–] N0t_5ure@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

I see it more as the court recognizing that if they just rubber stamp Trump's wishes, they destroy their own power, and Trump is notorious for fucking over pretty much everyone that joins him. In this instance, they would effectively be handing total control over to Trump, who is clearly face-planting across the board, destroying the U.S. in the process.

[–] sturmblast@lemmy.world -2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Scotus isn't always on Trumps side.

[–] snooggums@piefed.world 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

They don't have to rule in his favor 100% of the time to be on his side.

[–] NotEasyBeingGreen@slrpnk.net 2 points 22 hours ago

In fact, they boost their own alleged legitimacy by occasionally ruling against the regime.