Assemblymember Alex Lee Joins Multi-State Coalition To Oppose Postal Service’s Attempt to Undermine Voting Rights

• Nicholas Chan
• Communications Director, Office of Assemblymember Alex Lee
• (916) 319-2392
• [email protected]

Assemblymember Alex Lee joins a coalition of legislators from 23 states opposing the Trump Administration's attempt to seize control of mail voting and deprive people of their fundamental right to vote. Following the Administration's unlawful executive order, the U.S. Postal Service proposed rules to restrict mail ballots and create an illegal federal list of voter information. In response, the multi-state coalition of 131 legislators sent a letter to the U.S. Postal Service, urging the agency to withdraw its proposal.

"The federal regime is dismantling our democracy by attempting to disenfranchise tens of millions of voters," said Assemblymember Lee. "In a blatant violation of the Constitution, Trump's order deliberately usurps state authority and hands the White House-controlled Postal Service power to reject voters' ballots. We cannot allow the executive branch to coerce states into abandoning their constitutional authority over elections. No President can decide who gets to vote, and the Postal Service's mandate is to deliver the mail to the public, not to serve as Trump's illegal gatekeeper of voter rolls. But the President is corrupting the Postal Service into an instrument of voter suppression.

As the Republican federal government seeks to destroy the electoral system, the GOP's unconstitutional agenda would purge Americans, including women, people of color, low-income voters and younger voters, from the voter rolls. We must defend our free and fair elections from the President and his radical cronies."

The Postal Service's proposed rules are part of the federal government's wider attempts to undermine electoral integrity. Trump's priority legislation, the SAVE America Act, would require showing a passport or birth certificate to register to vote, and create strict ID requirements to cast a ballot. The bill would strip away countless Americans' ability to exercise their constitutional rights to participate in our democracy.