The Independent: ‘An attack on the First Amendment’: Voting rights groups sue postmaster general Louis DeJoy to reverse post office reforms

Voting rights groups are suing the head of the postal service to reverse reforms which have caused backlogs and delays across the country months before an election in which record numbers are expected to vote by mail.

The lawsuit, filed in a federal court in Maryland, accuses Louis DeJoy of “weaponising the United States Postal Service to disenfranchise Americans who choose to vote by mail.”

Mr DeJoy, a major donor to Donald Trump who was named head of the postal service in May, has overseen a raft of changes to working practices since his arrival — including the removal of mail processing machines and a ban on overtime — which caused severe delays to mail delivery. …

The suit was filed on behalf of voting rights groups the National Urban League, Common Cause and the League of Women Voters US against Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and the United States Postal Service.

It alleges that Mr DeJoy followed through on Mr Trump’s publicly stated desire to undercut the delivery of mail ballots by weakening the postal service, which violates the constitution. …

“The drastic and disruptive changes to the Postal Service by the Trump administration have been an attack on every American’s right to vote and their First Amendment right to free speech – and they must be rolled back definitively with more than just a press release,” said Karen Hobert Flynn, President of Common Cause.