Case 1:20-cv-06516-VM Document 49 Filed 09/21/20 Page 1 of 87

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
-------------------------------------X 9/21/2020
MONDAIRE JONES, et al., :
:
Plaintiffs, : 20 Civ. 6516 (VM)
:
- against - : DECISION AND ORDER
:
UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE, et al.,:
:
:
Defendants. :
-------------------------------------X
VICTOR MARRERO, United States District Judge.

Plaintiffs Mondaire Jones, Alessandra Biaggi, Chris

Burdick, Stephanie Keegan, Seth Rosen, Shannon Spencer, Kathy

Rothschild, Diana M. Woody, Perry Sainati, Robert Golub, Mary

Winton Green, Marsie Wallach, Matthew Wallach, Mac Wallach,

Carol Sussman, and Rebecca Rieckhoff (“Plaintiffs”) filed

this action against defendants United States Postal Service

(“USPS” or “Postal Service”); Louis DeJoy, as Postmaster

General (“DeJoy”), and Donald J. Trump, as President of the

United States (“President,” and together with the Postal

Service and DeJoy, “Defendants” or the “Government”). (See

“Amended Complaint,” Dkt. No. 36.) Plaintiffs seek

declaratory relief and a preliminary injunction mandating

that the Postal Service take certain actions to ensure the

timely delivery of their absentee ballots in the upcoming

national elections being held November 3, 2020. (See

“Motion,” Dkt. No. 19-1; “Notice of Motion,” Dkt. No. 19.)

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The Court held a hearing on September 16, 2020, and heard

witness testimony. For the reasons that follow, the Court

GRANTS in part the Motion.

Introduction

Nothing is more essential to a true democracy than the

right to vote. Where that right is constitutionally

guaranteed and exercised by citizens through free and fair

elections protected by government authority, democratic rule

thrives. Conversely, impairing the franchise, or imposing

undue burdens on the ability of voters to cast ballots for

their elected leaders, necessarily threatens democracy and

erodes the underpinnings of a republican form of government.

For that reason, this country’s founding constitutional

principles have designed and enshrined by law the means to

ensure free and fair balloting at every level of

representative government. To that end, our system has made

affirmative provisions not only to ensure maximum ease for

citizens to gain access to the ballot box, but also to remove

obstacles to voting and repulse attempts, whether by

coercion, dilution, discrimination, or other like deleterious

means, to interfere with voting rights.

One of the evident ways by which our society fosters and

guarantees voting rights is by absentee balloting,

accommodating the exceptional needs of citizens unable to

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vote in person for various legitimate reasons -- illness,

travel, education or employment out of the jurisdiction, or

military or diplomatic service. Protecting the franchise of

such citizens, and enforcing effective rules to do so, should

be no less an essential obligation of the government than is

securing voting in person. In fact, the law makes no such

distinction. Instead, all voters, regardless of whether they

submit their ballots in person or by mail, have a right to

have their votes counted and their voices heard. The case

before the Court presents these principles.

The context in which this litigation arises is essential

to an analysis and resolution of the controversy. The entire

world is now in the grip of a catastrophic pandemic caused by

the coronavirus, a phenomenon that has inflicted a heavier

toll of illness and death on the United States than on any

other nation. By recent government count, COVID-19 has

already infected over 6.7 million Americans and claimed over

198,000 lives.1 In its wake, and pertinent to the action

before the Court, the disease has engendered widespread fear

that conducting elections requiring voters to appear at the

polls to cast their ballots in person, there having to occupy

enclosed spaces through which thousands of people would pass

1 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC COVID Data Tracker,
https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#cases_casesinlast7days (last
accessed Sept. 19, 2020).

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throughout the day and handle the same voting equipment, would

produce conditions conducive to the spread of the illness. To

address these concerns, at least 22 states and the District

of Columbia have changed their laws to encourage voters to

cast their ballots by mail; 34 states and the District of

Columbia already permitted anyone to vote by mail, and only

five states require an excuse (beyond concerns related to

COVID-19).2 There is no dispute that this development will

bring about a predictable effect at issue here: a significant

surge in the volume of election mail the USPS is being called

upon to handle.

These circumstances present unique challenges and

opportunities for public officials, not only those in charge

of the Postal Service but also leaders of the rest of the

government, federal and state. The crisis demands, as

Plaintiffs here urge, extraordinary measures and firm

commitment to ensure that all citizens wishing to exercise

their right to vote are able to do so without needing to

confront an untenable choice: risk contracting a potentially

fatal illness by voting in person, or foregoing their right

to vote in a presidential election. That prospect likely will

2 Kate Rabinowitz & Brittany Renee Mayes, “At Least 84% of American Voters
Can Case Ballots By Mail in the Fall,” Wash. Post (Sept. 17, 2020),
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/politics/vote-by-mail-
states/ (last accessed Sept. 19, 2020).

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come to pass if a mail-in balloting option is available but

gives no reliable assurance that citizens could cast their

ballots and that their votes would be delivered to election

authorities in time to be counted.

Against this backdrop, this case raises some central

questions. Some are philosophical and implicate the Postal

Service’s core mission. The Postal Service has developed a

proud reputation for its paramount resolve, memorialized in

the famous inscription carved on the pediment of the General

Post Office Building in New York City, to deliver the mail

despite any obstacles.3 Postal operations have also been

guided by the ethic and spirit of the language of the USPS’s

charter mandate. That statute evinces a legislative design

that the entity is not just another government agency

rendering a necessary public service, but one that performs

a vital national purpose: to “bind the Nation together.” The

nation’s extraordinary efforts to deliver election mail from

members of the armed forces during the Civil War and World

War II provide compelling examples of that ingrained

commitment.

Beyond these issues implicating the USPS’s core values,

this case presents various operational and financial

3 “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers
from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.” Herodotus, The
Persian Wars, Bk. 8, ¶ 98 (trans. George H. Palmer).

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concerns. How has the Postal Service responded to these

developments? Specifically, are the agency’s organization,

operations, and finances adequate to meet the unprecedented

difficulties posed by the combined impact on mail service of

the pandemic and the greater volume of absentee or mail-in

ballots that voters will cast in a few weeks?

To these questions Plaintiffs here answer “No.” They

charge that in fact the Postal Service has retreated from the

dedication to its institutional ethic and historical culture

of delivering the mail as an overarching national function.

As evidence, Plaintiffs point to the vision of a

“transformative initiative” recently instituted by DeJoy upon

his assumption of his office -- measures that included, for

example, reduction of overtime pay, elimination of mail

sorting machines on a larger scale than previously done since

2016, directing mail trucks to leave as scheduled, even if it

would entail leaving mail behind for delivery another day.

According to Plaintiffs, such policy and operational changes

have redefined and rechanneled the USPS’s mission to follow

the business model of a private enterprise. Under this

approach, according to Plaintiffs, the Postal Service’s

commitment to delivering all of the mail may be sacrificed in

the name of efficiency. As evidence, Plaintiffs point out

that, correlating with DeJoy’s postal reforms, within weeks

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of the adoption of the new approach the service standards for

First-Class Mail declined and have not yet fully recovered to

reach what they were before the initiatives.

Adding complication to the situation, Plaintiffs call

attention to a statement made by President Trump’s deputy

campaign manager Justin Clark, quoted as having said that

“[t]he President views vote by mail as a threat to his

election.” And the President himself made a statement that

was interpreted as urging voters who mail in ballots to also

vote in person, in order to test the system.4

Accordingly, in the midst of the exceptional demands

presented by a national health crisis, and confronted

simultaneously with a presidential election that will

generate an unprecedented surge of mail ballots, rather than

focusing efforts and resources on guaranteeing that citizens’

apprehensions about the coronavirus crisis would not impede

exercise of their right to vote, the Postal Service, the

Postmaster General, and the President have made public

statements and taken steps manifesting a somewhat ambiguous

course. They have not provided trusted assurance and comfort

that citizens will be able to cast ballots with full

4 Maggie Haberman & Stephanie Saul, “Trump Encourages People in North

Carolina to Vote Twice, Which Is Illegal,” N.Y. Times (Sept. 8, 2020),
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/02/us/politics/trump-people-vote-
twice.html (last accessed Sept. 19, 2020).

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confidence that their votes would be timely collected and

counted. Rather, as detailed below, their actions have given

rise to management and operational confusion, to directives

that tend to generate uncertainty as to who is in charge of

policies that ultimately could affect the reliability of

absentee ballots, thus potentially discouraging voting by

mail. Conflicting, vague, and ambivalent managerial signals

could also sow substantial doubt about whether the USPS is up

to the task, whether it possesses the institutional will power

and commitment to its historical mission, and so to handle

the exceptional burden associated with a profoundly critical

task in our democratic system, that of collecting and

delivering election mail a few weeks from now.

The Court is persuaded that the circumstances Plaintiffs

portray in their complaint, sufficiently supported by

evidence on the record of this proceeding, warrant relief.

The right to vote is too vital a value in our democracy to be

left in a state of suspense in the minds of voters weeks

before a presidential election, raising doubts as to whether

their votes will ultimately be counted.

I. BACKGROUND

A. FACTUAL BACKGROUND AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

The Postal Service operates over 31,000 Post Offices,

204,274 delivery vehicles, and more than 8,500 pieces of

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automated processing equipment. (See “Tinio Decl.,” Dkt. No.

24, Ex. 1 at 6.) It delivers “48 percent of the world’s mail

volume and more packages to the home than any other business.”

(Id.) But, while it is a “fundamentally strong organization,”

the Postal Service is “not financially strong.” (Id.) Eroding

mail volumes, universal service obligations, and legislative

mandates strain its financial stability. (Id.)

DeJoy became the country’s 75th Postmaster General on

June 15, 2020. He has stated that he views his role as an

opportunity to help the Postal Service “to better serve the

American public and also to operate in the financially

sustainable manner.” (Tinio Decl. Ex. 5, at 5.)

Before his installment as Postmaster General, DeJoy was

reported to have made substantial donations to President

Trump’s re-election campaign. (See Id. at 48.) Further,

Plaintiffs note that while the Postal Service is an

independent agency, “Secretary of the Treasury Mnuchin and

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows have been in close

contact with both the USPS Board of Governors and Postmaster

General DeJoy.” (See “Jamison Decl.,” Dkt. No. 19-2, ¶ 22.)

Plaintiffs suggest that, in an effort to curtail the perceived

threat posed by mail-in voting, “[t]he Trump administration

is intentionally involving itself in day to day postal

operations.” (Id. ¶ 27.)

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Plaintiffs comprise a collection of individuals from

States across the country, including a Democratic candidate

for Congress from New York and several New York state and

local political candidates, each with interests in the

accuracy and integrity of the November 2020 national election

(the “Candidate Plaintiffs”); and numerous voters (the “Voter

Plaintiffs”) who either plan to vote by mail for reasons

related to the COVID-19 pandemic -- broadly: (1) travel

restrictions that prevent voters from returning to their

states of residence, and (2) exposure risks that render in-

person voting dangerous -- or, in the case of Spencer, have

chosen to risk infection and vote in person because of fears

the USPS cannot timely handle Election Mail.

Plaintiffs filed a complaint on August 17, 2020.

(“Complaint,” Dkt. No. 1.) On September 2, 2020, Plaintiffs

filed their Motion. (See Motion; Jamison Decl.; “Jones

Decl.,” Dkt. No. 19-3, “Biaggi Decl.,” Dkt. No. 19-4, “Barrios

Decl.,” Dkt. No. 19-5; “Mac Wallach Decl.,” Dkt. No. 19-6;

“Matthew Wallach Decl.,” Dkt. No. 19-7; “Marsie Wallach

Decl.,” Dkt. No. 19-8; “Rieckhoff Decl.,” Dkt. No. 19-9;

“Rosen Decl.,” Dkt. No. 19-10; “Sussman Decl.,” Dkt. No. 19-

11; “Winton Green Decl.,” Dkt. No. 19-12; “Rothschild Decl.,”

Dkt. No. 19-13; “Green Decl.,” Dkt. No. 19-14.)

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On September 8, 2020, the Government opposed the Motion.

(See “Opposition,” Dkt. No. 22; “Barber Decl.,” Dkt. No. 23;

Tinio Decl.; “Vo Decl.,” Dkt. No. 25; “Stasa Decl.,” Dkt. No.

26; “Prokity Decl.,” Dkt. No. 27; “Glass Decl.,” Dkt. No. 28;

“DeChambeau Decl.,” Dkt. No. 29; “Curtis Decl.,” Dkt. No. 30;

“Couch Decl.,” Dkt. No. 31; “Colin Decl.,” Dkt. No. 32;

“Cintron Decl.,” Dkt. No. 33.”

Plaintiffs filed the Amended Complaint on September 9,

2020. The Amended Complaint brings claims under the First and

Fifth Amendments of the Constitution against Defendants.5 On

September 10, 2020, Plaintiffs filed a reply. (See “Reply,”

Dkt. No. 38; “Jamison Reply Decl.,” Dkt. No. 38-1; “Barrios

Reply Decl.,” Dkt. No. 38-4; “Spencer Decl.,” Dkt. No. 38-

5.)

Before the Court held the hearing in this matter, the

Government submitted updated performance data and additional

declarations for the Court’s consideration. (See “Kochevar

5 Plaintiffs’ Amended Complaint brings Count One under 42 U.S.C. Section

1983. Defendants correctly note that this statute does not provide a cause
of action against federal officers. See Kingsley v. Bureau of Prisons,
937 F.2d 26, 30 n.4 (2d Cir. 1991). The Court understands Plaintiffs to
be seeking relief under the Court’s general equitable authority to fashion
a remedy for wrongs committed by government officials. See Armstrong v.
Exceptional Child Center, 575 U.S. 320, 327 (2015) (“The ability to sue
to enjoin unconstitutional actions by state and federal officers is the
creation of courts of equity, and reflects a long history of judicial
review of illegal executive action, tracing back to England.”) (emphasis
added). Because Defendants were on notice as to the nature of the claims
against them, the Court sees no reason to hold that the claims fail as a
matter of law, but will permit Plaintiffs to submit a proposed second
amended complaint to correct the cause of action.

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Decl.,” Dkt. No. 45; “Supp. Cintron Decl.,” Dkt. No. 46-1;

“Supp. Curtis Decl.,” Dkt. No. 46-2.) At the hearing, the

Court heard testimony from Julia Bryan, a volunteer for

Democrats Abroad; Jose Barrios; Mark Jamison, Plaintiffs’

expert witness; Robert Cintron (“Cintron”); Angela Curtis

(“Curtis”); and Justin Glass (“Glass”). Following the

hearing, Plaintiffs filed an additional exhibit. (See “Supp.

Green Decl.,” Dkt. No. 47-1.)

B. CHALLENGED POSTAL SERVICE ACTIONS

Central to the Complaint are a handful of recent

“dramatic and profound” policy changes within USPS, including

(1) a prohibition on overtime, (2) a ban on late or extra

trips even if deliveries are not fully completed, (3) a hiring

freeze, (3) a policy titled “Expedited to Street/Afternoon

Sortation” (“ESAS”) under which carriers are to spend minimal

time in the office before departing and are prohibited from

sorting mail until the afternoon when they have returned, and

(4) widespread equipment reduction, removal, or destruction.

On July 10, 2020, DeJoy participated in a teleconference

with area vice presidents and members of headquarters.

Defense witnesses Cintron, Vice President of Logistics, and

Curtis, Vice President of Retail and Post Office Operations,

both participated in the teleconference and testified that

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the subject was various initiatives to be implemented. These

changes are outlined below.

1. Reduction of Late and Extra Trips

During the July 10 teleconference with DeJoy,

participants discussed a new policy restricting late and

extra trips. According to Cintron, a “late” trip is a trip

that departs after its scheduled departure time. (Tr. 45:18-

22.6) An “extra” trip would be a trip made by “another piece

of transportation” to move “additional volume.” (Tr. 45:24-

46:2.) Cintron insisted that the statements made regarding

late and extra trips at the July 10, 2020 meeting did not

amount to a “ban,” but they did indicate that the “aspiration”

was “not to have either one of those.” (Tr. 50:17-25.) Curtis

echoed these sentiments, explaining that the elimination of

late and extra trips was a goal, but that she understood it

would not be achieved “overnight.” (Tr. 75:5-8.)

Apparently, however, many postal workers received a

different message. Following the teleconference, an area vice

president created a “Standup Talk” document to memorialize

the discussion that occurred on July 10, 2020. (Tr. 49:21-

50:8; Amended Complaint Ex. 1.) The July 10, 2020 document

titled “Mandatory Standup Talk: All Employees,” outlines a

6
All citations to “Tr.” refer to the transcript of the hearing this Court
held on September 16, 2020. (See Dkt. Minute Entry Dated Sept. 16, 2020.)

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“long overdue” “operational pivot,” including certain changes

to prior procedures. First, the memo explains that: (1) “late

trips” and “extra trips are no longer authorized or accepted,”

and (2) “[c]arriers must begin on time, leave for the street

on time, and return on time.”7 The memo acknowledged that

“[o]ne aspect of these changes that may be difficult for

employees is that – temporarily -- we may see mail left behind

or mail on the workroom floor or docks . . .” but assures

that “the delayed mail volumes will soon shrink

significantly.”

Likewise, a banner hanging in the Portland, Oregon plant

on September 6, 2020 proclaimed, “No Employee has

Authorization to Hold Trucks,” along with further directives

stating, “Make sure every single employee in our building

understands - All Trips Depart On Time.” (Jamison Reply Decl.

Ex. 1.) And, a post office operations manager in Ohio drafted

a July 14, 2020 PowerPoint presentation regarding DeJoy’s

expectations for cost savings, including a directive that

“[t]he plants are not to send mail late,” and “[i]f the plants

7
On July 16, 2020, a similar initiative, Expedited to Street/Afternoon
Sortation (“ESAS”), was introduced. (Amended Complaint Ex. 2.) The
initiative was designed to “reduce[] morning office time to allow
carriers to get on the street earlier.” Under the new policy, carriers
were directed to spend minimal time in the office in the morning and
“work any unsorted mail into the delivery sequence for delivery the
next scheduled day,” after returning from the street. This program has
been suspended as part of a union grievance process. (Motion at 2,
n.3.)

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are not on time they will hold the mail for the next day.”

(Supp. Green Decl. at 3; Tr. 73:19-74:8.)

While Curtis was “appalled” by this July 14 PowerPoint

presentation, which she considered a misrepresentation of

directives from the Postmaster General (Tr. 73:22), these

circumstances reflect evidence of conflicting signals or

confusion, at the very least that different Postal Service

employees understood their instructions differently. And, at

any rate, a reduction of late and extras did in fact occur.

Glass testified that because of the initiative, “[w]e have

had a significant reduction in both lates and a reduction in

extra services.” (Tr. 47:23-48:3.)

2. Limits on Overtime

Jose Carlos Barrios (“Barrios”), a Mail Processing Clerk

at the San Antonio Main Post Office with 33 years of

experience, testified that overtime was being cut back. This

measure was also listed in the July 14 PowerPoint as one of

DeJoy’s expectations. (Supp. Green Decl. at 1 (“POT will be

eliminated. This is not cost effective and it will be taken

away. Overtime will be eliminated. Again we are paying too

much in OT and it is not cost effective and will soon be taken

off the table.”).) DeJoy, however, testified before the House

Oversight and Reform Committee that he “never put a limitation

on overtime,” and that overtime could continue to be approved

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“as needed.” (Tinio Decl. Ex. 14, at 25; see also Colin Decl.

¶ 4.) Nonetheless, he stated that he intended to issue

guidance on when managers could approve overtime, presumably

to clarify, given evident confusion on the subject. (See id.

at 27.)

3. Changes in Hiring

USPS experienced staffing shortages because of the

COVID-19 pandemic. John Prokity (“Prokity”), manager of

Workforce Planning Insights & Analytics, explained that the

Postal Service adjusted its hiring processes because of these

pandemic-related staffing shortages. (Prokity Decl. ¶¶ 4-7.)

Prokity acknowledged that USPS has instituted a hiring freeze

for management-level positions, but this did not affect mail

carriers, mail handlers, and clerks. (Id. ¶ 6 n.1.)

Plaintiffs’ expert Mark Jamison (“Jamison”), a former

Postal Service employee with over 36 years of experience,

explained that for the non-management-level positions, USPS

agreed to relax certain hiring rules, including the union-

negotiated limitation on temporary employees. That change has

“led to the addition of more than 88,000 new untrained

temporary employees.” (Tr. 33:8-12; see also Tr. 22:22-25.)

Glass, Manager of Operations Industrial Engineering,

confirmed this statement, testifying that the USPS has hired

untrained temporary employees to fill vacancies, and further

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confirming that those workers would be handling Election

Mail.8 (Tr. 108:9-21.)

4. Equipment Destruction and Removal

In connection with Plaintiffs’ claims about destruction

and removal of equipment, two items are at issue: mail

collection boxes and targeted reductions of 18 to 20 percent

in mail sorting machines.9 Regarding the mail collection

boxes, Jennifer Vo (“Vo”), director of City Delivery and

Postal Service Headquarters and USPS employee of 26 years,

testified that blue collection boxes are regularly removed

based on volume to “ensure that mail collection within areas

served by letter carriers is accomplished in a cost-efficient

manner, while still meeting customers’ needs.” (Vo Decl. ¶

5.) However, “[p]ursuant to Postmaster DeJoy’s recent

directive, the Postal Service has stopped removal of

collection boxes . . . not to resume until after the November

Presidential election.” (Vo Decl. ¶ 18.)

Other defense witnesses gave similar accounts regarding

the sorting equipment reductions. Michael Barber, soon to be

the USPS Vice President of Processing and Maintenance

8
The term “Election Mail” refers to any item mailed to or from
authorized election officials that enables citizens to participate in
the voting process, including voter registration materials, absentee or
mail-in ballot applications, polling place notifications, blank
ballots, and completed ballots. (Glass Decl. ¶ 3.)
9 Reduction targets vary by type of machine. (Amended Complaint Ex. 3,

at 2.)

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Operations, with over 29 years of experience within the postal

service, testified that, “[d]ue primarily to the large

decline in mail volume over the past decade, we have more

machines than are needed to process the mail.” (Barber Decl.

¶ 5.) Barber described how the USPS monitors utilization and

performance data in real-time. He pointed to current national

utilization levels ranging between 35 and 65 percent,

concluding that even if every voter chose to vote by mail,

there would still be excess processing capacity. (Id. ¶ 6.)

Jason DeChambeau, Headquarters Director of Processing

Operations, echoed that “[t]he Postal Service has removed

and/or replaced unnecessary or outdated mail processing and

sorting equipment for many years,” both when they become

outdated and need to be replaced, and when “they are no longer

needed to process the volume of mail.” (DeChambeau Decl. ¶

7.) He indicated that the current equipment-reduction

initiative began in January 2017. (Id. ¶ 14.)

Plaintiffs dispute whether the removal and destruction

of this equipment was done in the normal course. Barrios

testified, for example, that, based on his experience, the

handling of machines was “a dramatic departure from past

practice.” (Barrios Decl. ¶ 26.) He explained that, when

volume dipped in the past, sorting machines were powered down

rather than destroyed, leaving the facility “the ability to

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start them back up when mail volume spiked.” (Id. ¶ 27.) This

flexibility allowed postal employees “to address the dramatic

seasonal differences” in mail volume. (Id.) This time,

however, according to an email Plaintiffs obtained dated

August 18, 2020, postal employees have been directed “not to

reconnect/reinstall machines that ha[d] previously been

disconnected without approval from HQ Maintenance, no matter

what direction they [got] from their plant manager.” (Green

Decl. Ex. 4, at 1.)

Plaintiffs further argue that the greatest reductions

were implemented in “major cities, likely to skew

Democratic.” (Motion at 20.) They submitted a map created by

the Washington Post titled “Postal Service Reduction in

Sorting Capacity,” indicating that sorting capacity,

expressed as the number of pieces of mail sorted per hour,

has declined disproportionately across the country, with

declines concentrated in population-dense areas. (Green Decl.

Ex. 5; Compl. ¶ 90.)

5. Changes to Election Mail Handling

The Postal Service’s approach to handling Election Mail

has also experienced changes in recent months. Jamison

explained that “as recently as the 2018 election the USPS

typically treated election mail as 1st class mail, even if it

was sent at marketing mail rates.” (Jamison Decl. ¶ 28). Glass

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similarly testified that USPS historically devoted “excess

First-Class Mail processing capacity to Election Mail.”

(Glass Decl. ¶ 21.) He explained, however, that this is simply

a “longstanding practice” and that “no formal policy”

requires it. (Id.) Cintron confirmed that some Election Mail

is being delivered as “[M]arketing [M]ail.” (Tr. 61:16-24.)

Barrios’s testimony also points to changes in USPS’s

approach to Election Mail. He testified that the March 2020

primary Election Mail did not receive the special processing

it did in earlier election years. (Tr. 24:2-14; Barrios Decl.

¶ 25.) For example, during the March 2020 primary, managers

directed employees to run Election Mail through the first set

of sorting machines initially, rather than pulling them aside

to be sorted and canceled separately, as was the previous

practice. (Barrios Decl. ¶ 23.) Barrios estimated that

because of this directive, his facility missed about a quarter

of what came through in initial sorting. (Id. ¶ 24.) This

directive is still in place for the November election. (Id.

¶ 23.) When Barrios raised the issue with management, “they

just simply did not” fix the problem. (Tr. 24:25.) Dennis

Stasa, Senior Plant Manager at the same facility as Barrios,

testified that the facility has not changed Postal Service

protocols to process election mail during the last two

elections, “and continues to follow this standard protocol

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today.” (Stasa Decl. ¶ 19.) However, Barrios testified, in

remarks the Court found credible, that as a result of the

changes about 600 ballots were left on the mail room floor.

(Tr. 25:14-20.)

Defense witnesses have testified regarding certain

practices the USPS has in place to handle Election Mail. For

example, Glass testified that USPS uses “all clears” to ensure

that Election Mail is accounted for. (Glass Decl. ¶ 19.)

Through this process, USPS employees “use a checklist to

confirm that mail scheduled or ‘committed’ to go out that day

has gone out, and anything committed for the next day is at

the front of the line.” (Id. ¶ 19.)

Nonetheless, an August 31, 2020 report prepared by the

Office of the Inspector General (“OIG”) found that of seven

facilities audited, none used the Postal Service’s

Operational Clean Sweep Search Checklist. (Tinio Decl. Ex. 4,

at 5.) And “[s]ix of the seven facilities used their own

variation of the Election and Political Mail logs.” (Id.)

While the OIG report did not evaluate the recent changes at

issue in this case, it indicates that prior audits by the OIG

found that “the Postal Service needed to improve

communication between headquarters, mail processing

facilities, and election officials,” “train staff on Election

and Political Mail processes,” and “appropriately align

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resources to process peak Election and Political Mail

volume.” (Id. at 1.)

Further, while Glass testified that there will be “no

changes in service standards as it applies to election mail”

(Tr. 95:19-23), Jamison disagreed, referencing letters sent

between July 29 and 31, 2020 by General Counsel and Executive

Vice President, Thomas Marshall, to 46 states regarding

election mail. (Tr. 31:18-32:1; Jamison Decl. ¶ 28). The

letters provide usual transit times for First-Class and

Marketing Mail and recommend that Election Officials send out

ballots using First-Class Mail. (Amended Complaint Ex. 5.)

The letters further flag “mismatch[es]” between USPS delivery

speeds and the state law deadlines for requesting and casting

mail-in ballots. (Id. at 2.) The letters warn that “this . . .

creates a risk that ballots requested near the deadline under

state law will not be returned by mail in time to be counted

. . . .” (Id.).

In light of USPS’s historical practice of treating all

Election Mail as First-Class Mail, Jamison viewed the letters

as “a threat, like an abandonment of those long-term cultural

commitments, that that mindfulness of how important ballots

are is gone and they’re just going to follow the regulations.”

(Tr. 31:18-32:1; see also Jamison Decl. ¶ 28.)

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Despite DeJoy’s repeated assurances that the USPS has

the capacity to handle all Election Mail this November, even

before his operational changes were introduced, the OIG found

that “the amount of identifiable Election and Political Mail

delivered on-time nationwide was 94.5 percent from April 2020

through June 2020, a decrease of 1.7 percentage points

compared to the same period in 2018.” (Tinio Decl. Ex. 4, at

5.) Further, in an apparent acknowledgment of the public

doubts and precarious operational situation the USPS is

experiencing, Glass explained that USPS will employ ballot

monitors in every processing facility during the week before

the election and through Election Day to monitor postmarking

and ensure ballots are being processed. (Glass Decl. ¶ 39.)

Glass further stated that often postal employees

“undertake extraordinary efforts to accelerate the delivery

of ballots.” (Glass Decl. ¶ 23.) Among these “extraordinary”

measures, according to Glass, postal employees in one

instance segregated ballots and sent them as Priority Mail

Express. (Id. ¶ 25.) In another, postal employees made

additional deliveries on Sunday, and in some cases have

delivered ballots on a same-day basis. (Id. ¶ 26.)

Apart from the installation of ballot monitors and the

use of “all clears” and logs to track Election Mail through

the USPS network, the extra measures USPS contemplates taking

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are considered “practices” not “policies,” meaning, as Glass

explained, that they are not required and are instead

“typically left to local managers” to implement. (Tr. 100:5-

9.) With regard to why these practices are not more uniform

or formal policies, he testified that “expediting measures

cannot be applied equally.” (Tr. 105:8-9.) Glass pointed to

measures in place to monitor such practices, but also noted

that if the practices were not properly implemented, by the

time headquarters investigated, it would be too late for

affected ballots. (Tr. 104:11-18.) He also observed that “not

in every case is every method the same and . . . valid,”

because “[y]ou can’t deliver[] throughout the entire state of

Georgia where you might be able to deliver to the city of

Atlanta,” for example. (Tr. 103:5-8.) Furthermore, some of

these measures require the use of overtime. (Tr. 107:3-9.)

Cintron testified that in the past, USPS has run late trips

to ensure that Election Mail is delivered, and that the same

plan would be in place this year. (Tr. 68:2-6.) However, as

discussed above, USPS employees appear to lack clear guidance

regarding whether, and under what circumstances, overtime is

permissible. See supra Section I.B.2. Glass testified that,

if overtime is restricted, the capacity of USPS employees to

undertake extra measures to deliver Election Mail would be

diminished. (Tr. 107:10.)

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6. Evidence of Delay and Its Impact

Whether mail delivery delays have occurred is not in

dispute. At an August 24, 2020 hearing before the House

Oversight and Reform Committee, DeJoy acknowledged that there

was a decline in presort First-Class Mail service since July.

(Green Decl. Ex. 1, at 27.) The delay is likewise reflected

in an August 12, 2020 Service Performance Measurement

briefing which includes a chart showing a steep decline in

service standards for presort First-Class Mail and Marketing

Mail beginning in mid-July.10 (Green Decl. Ex. 2, at 2, 3.)

Similarly, performance data showing nationwide service

performance for “market-dominant” products, including First-

Class and Marketing Mail, shows that between January 2020 and

August 2020, First-Class Mail declined from 91.76 percent on

time to 88.04 percent, and Marketing Mail dropped from 91.21

percent on time to 89.56 percent. (Kochevar Decl. Ex. 1, at

2.) This performance decline occurred despite a “virus-driven

decline” in mail volume, which Defendants concede.11 While the

performance data reflect fluctuations, the largest dip with

10 While the scores rebound slightly, they begin to decrease again in late
July. (Green Decl. Ex. 2, at 2, 3.) The Postal Service has indicated that
its goal is for 96.5 percent of First-Class Mail to be on time. (Tr.
36:23-24; Glass Decl. ¶ 17; Tinio Decl. Ex. 5, at 34.) When the service
standard has a score of 88.04 percent, therefore, it is 8.5 percentage
points below the goal. (Tr. 58:17-18.)
11 Tinio Decl. Ex. 2 (Quoctrung Bui & Margot Sanger-Katz, Can the Post

Office Handle Election Mail?, N.Y. Times, Aug. 20, 2020). The New York
Times additionally reports that “recent restrictions on overtime do appear
to have slowed postal processing in some parts of the country.” (Id.)

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respect to both classes of mail occurred the week of July 18,

coinciding with the rollout of DeJoy’s initiatives, and the

on-time rate for First-Class Mail has not rebounded. (Id.)

The parties do not disagree that, to some degree, the

restrictions on late and extra trips caused these delays.

Curtis testified that the delays resulted from a “perfect

storm,” including the effects of COVID-19, and “this

increased energy and focus on trips on time.” (Tr. 86:4.)

Likewise, Cintron agreed that, the focus on strict schedule

adherence did come at the cost of service in July and August.

(Tr. 66:22-67:3.) As Plaintiffs’ expert Jamison explained,

“[i]f processing the mail intended for [a particular] truck

hasn't been completed, when the truck leaves, delays in

delivery occur. And those delays escalate and pyramid over

days.” (Tr. 34:15-18.) He characterized the “insistence on

maintaining the rigid adherence to postage transportation

Schedules” as having “[p]erhaps the greatest impact.” (Tr.

34:5-7.)

But the other operational changes have contributed to

these postal service delays as well. For example, in a letter

dated July 29, 2020, the American Postal Workers Union stated

that machine removal has “a direct negative impact on reduced

service standards” and “has contributed to delayed mail.”

(Green Decl. Ex. 7, at 5.) Barrios agreed, testifying that

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“[t]he absences of these machines will place a burden on our

ability to process the mail as our Seasoned Holiday Mail would

start . . . coming in.” (Barrios Decl. ¶ 20.) And while Barber

testified that, despite the equipment reductions, if changes

in volume occur, USPS will be able to “quickly address and

remedy any machine processing capacity issue” that results

(Barber Decl. ¶ 6), this notion is undermined by an email

from Kevin Couch, Director of Maintenance Operations, dated

August 18, 2020, indicating that postal employees were “not

to reconnect/reinstall machines that ha[d] previously been

disconnected without approval from HQ Maintenance, no matter

what direction they [got] from their plant manager.” (Green

Decl. Ex. 4, at 1.)

Barrios testified that the San Antonio facility is

currently running on average two to three days behind its

usual service standard, and that the current delays in mail

delivery will continue into November because there are not

enough “qualified supervisors that know how to properly

expedite the mail.” (Barrios Decl. ¶ 6; Tr. 22:17-20.) And

because USPS is “hiring brand new employees with no official

training,” while limiting overtime, experienced postal

employees are effectively prohibited from lending a helping

hand. (See Tr. 22:22-23:3.)

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Taken together, these delays have a direct bearing on

the fundamental voting rights issues now before the Court.

Specifically, if the Postal Service’s mail delivery levels

remain at current levels or continue to decline, under

operational policies apparently still in place, such

curtailed performance would put the ability of voters to

timely cast their ballots at risk. On this point, Cintron

expressly testified that Election Mail could be included

among the mail left behind as a result of the heavy focus on

adhering to departure schedules. (Tr. 68:20-24.) Barrios

explained that “[w]hile our past practices would position us

well to handle what is likely to be a significant task in

pulling out and specially handling an unprecedent volume of

election mail, the reduced capacity from missing machines, as

well as the (constantly shifting) micro-management and

inflexibility is a disaster in the making.” (Barrios Decl. ¶

30.)

The impact of these operational changes is even greater

this year considering the significant number of voters who

plan to cast their ballots by mail. In plaintiff Mondaire

Jones’s primary election in New York’s 17th Congressional

District, which includes Rockland and parts of Westchester

County, approximately 61.1 percent of the ballots were cast

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by mail. (Jones Decl. ¶ 6). The voter Plaintiffs in this

action all plan to vote by mail. (E.g., Spencer Decl. ¶ 6).

International voters face even greater obstacles. Julia

Brown (”Brown”), a volunteer for Democrats Abroad living in

Prague, testified about the “nixie issue,” which arises “when

a ballot or other voting material, such as a ballot request,

is received within the U.S. postal system” but ultimately

returned to sender. (Tr. 12:22-13:2.) The issue has arisen

earlier in 2020 than it did in 2016. Brown added that

international voters cannot use private mail carriers as an

effective alternative because they can be costly, unreliable,

and for regions where ballots must be addressed to P.O. boxes,

simply unable to deliver. (Tr. 16:14-22.)

C. THE PARTIES’ ARGUMENTS

Plaintiffs argue that the changes in Postal Service

policies and operations detailed above will undermine the

integrity of the November national election by causing delays

in delivery (and, ultimately, counting) of mail-in ballots.

While Plaintiffs admit they do not know the precise measure

of the potential disenfranchisement, they allege that it will

be undoubtedly meaningful in light of the “record volume of

absentee and other mail ballots” expected because of the

pandemic. Plaintiffs offer evidence -- internal memos and

publications -- both substantiating that these changes were

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implemented and suggesting that delay has already begun to

occur. The evidence includes several news articles appearing

in reputable publications drawing that conclusion. Attached

to their motion, Plaintiffs offer evidence indicating that

the reductions in machinery have been concentrated in swing

states or major cities “likely to skew Democratic.”

Plaintiffs argue that these deviations from past USPS

policies and practices will result in the infringement of

their First Amendment right to vote and to have their votes

equally counted under the Fifth Amendment. They seek a

declaratory judgment holding that Defendants have violated

their rights under the Constitution, and an injunction both

(1) ensuring that USPS may proceed with Election Mail

operations unencumbered by these policy changes, and (2)

unwinding or mitigating any damage that has already occurred.

In response to the Plaintiffs’ factual allegations, the

Government asserts that “nearly all” of the operational

changes have been suspended, including “equipment and

collection box removal, certain routine aspects of overtime

management, . . . changes to retail hours, . . . plans to

consolidate or close any facilities, and a limited pilot

program for mail carriers.” (Opposition at 13.) The “ongoing

effort to improve compliance with existing schedules,”

however, has not been suspended and will continue. (Id. at 13

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n.9.) The Government further disclaims responsibility for

certain of the policy announcements (i.e., relating to

overtime, parking restrictions, and prohibitions on late and

extra trips), explaining that they were communicated by

“local manager[s]” without approval from headquarters.

(Opposition at 19 n.14; see also id. at 18 n.13.) Regarding

delay, the Government admits that some delay has occurred but

insists it has been mitigated by the suspension of policy

changes and adjustment to the procedures (such as the new

transportation compliance rules).

II. JURISDICTION

As it must, the Court first determines whether it has

jurisdiction to hear this suit. While Defendants argue that

Plaintiffs do not have standing because they have failed to

show a certainly impending injury, and also fail to

demonstrate that their injury is traceable to and redressable

by Defendants, the Court holds that Plaintiffs satisfy

Article III standing requirements. Defendants also argue that

Plaintiffs’ claims are moot, but the Court disagrees again,

and holds that Plaintiffs have presented a live controversy.

A. STANDING

1. Legal Standard

The “Constitution requires that anyone seeking to invoke

federal jurisdiction . . . have standing to do so.” Crist v.

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Comm’n on Presidential Debates, 262 F.3d 193, 194 (2d Cir.

2001). “The law of Article III standing, which is built on

separation-of-powers principles, serves to prevent the

judicial process from being used to usurp the powers of the

political branches.” Clapper v. Amnesty Int’l, 568 U.S. 398,

408 (2013). To demonstrate that Article III’s standing

requirements are met, a plaintiff must show that:

(1) it has suffered an “injury in fact” that is (a)

concrete and particularized and (b) actual or imminent,
not conjectural or hypothetical; (2) the injury is
fairly traceable to the challenged action of the
defendant; and (3) it is likely, as opposed to merely
speculative, that the injury will be redressed by a
favorable decision.

Friends of the Earth v. Laidlaw Envtl. Servs. (TOC), 528 U.S.

167, 181–82 (2000). “[E]ach element must be supported in the

same way as any other matter on which the plaintiff bears the

burden of proof, i.e., with the manner and degree of evidence

required at the successive stages of the litigation.” Lujan

v. Defenders of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555, 561 (1992) (citations

and quotation marks omitted); see New York v. Trump, No. 20-

cv-5770, 2020 WL 5422959, at *9 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 10, 2020).

The injury-in-fact requirement is meant to “ensure that

the plaintiff has a personal stake in the outcome of the

controversy.” Susan B. Anthony List, 573 U.S. at 158 (internal

quotation marks and citation omitted). A “future injury” can

suffice, if it is “certainly impending, or there is a

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substantial risk that the harm will occur.” Id. at 157; see

Clapper v. Amnesty Int’l USA, 568 U.S. 398, 414 n.5 (2013)

(explaining that plaintiffs need not “demonstrate that it is

literally certain that the harms they identify will come

about”); House of Representatives, 525 U.S. at 332-33

(finding standing where certain jurisdictions were

“substantially likely . . . [to] suffer vote dilution”)

(internal quotation marks and citation omitted).

Traceability requires showing “a causal connection

between the injury and the conduct complained of — the injury

has to be fairly traceable to the challenged action of the

defendant, and not the result of the independent action of

some third party not before the court.” Lujan, 504 U.S. at

560 (internal quotation marks, alterations, and citation

omitted). However, traceability does not require “[p]roximate

causation.” Lexmark Int’l, Inc. v. Static Control Components,

Inc., 572 U.S. 118, 134 n.6 (2014). “Article III ‘requires no

more than de facto causality.’” Dep’t of Commerce v. New York,

139 S. Ct. at 2566 (quoting Block v. Meese, 793 F.2d 1303,

1309 (D.C. Cir. 1986) (Scalia, J.)). Traceability is

satisfied when a “theory of standing” relies “on the

predictable effect of Government action on the decisions of

third parties,” Dep’t of Commerce v. New York, 139 S. Ct. at

2566, “even when the decisions are illogical or unnecessary,”

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New York v. U.S. Dep’t of Homeland Sec., 969 F.3d 42, 59 (2d

Cir. 2020).

Redressability requires a showing that is “likely, as

opposed to merely speculative, that the injury will be

redressed by a favorable decision.” Lujan, 504 U.S. at 561

(internal quotation marks and citation omitted). The

plaintiff need not “show that a favorable decision will

relieve his every injury.” Dep’t of Texas, Veterans of

Foreign Wars of U.S. v. Texas Lottery Comm’n, 760 F.3d 427,

432 (5th Cir. 2014) (citing Larson v. Valente, 456 U.S. 228,

243 n.15 (1982)).

“[A] plaintiff must demonstrate standing for each claim

and form of relief sought.” Cacchillo v. Insmed, Inc., 638

F.3d 401, 404 (2d Cir. 2011). The standing inquiry is

“especially rigorous when reaching the merits of the dispute

would force [a federal court] to decide whether an action

taken by one of the other two branches of the Federal

Government was unconstitutional.” Raines v. Byrd, 521 U.S.

811, 819-20 (1997). To demonstrate standing for injunctive

relief, a plaintiff “cannot rely solely on past injuries;

rather, the plaintiff must establish how he or she will be

injured prospectively and that the injury would be prevented

by the equitable relief sought.” Marcavage v. City of New

York, 689 F.3d 98, 103 (2d Cir. 2012).

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2. Application

Voter Plaintiffs have shown a “substantial risk” that

the ballots of voters in certain regions are less likely to

be counted because of delayed mail service. See Susan B.

Anthony List, 573 U.S. at 157; House of Representatives, 525

U.S. at 332-33 (finding standing where certain jurisdictions

were “substantially likely . . . [to] suffer vote dilution”).

Defendants argue that the Voter Plaintiffs have not

demonstrated standing because their alleged injury is too

speculative. Defendants contend that USPS has already

suspended many challenged procedures and is endeavoring to

ensure the timely delivery of mail, such that mail delays are

unlikely. But, as discussed above, there is sufficient

evidence suggesting that substantial mail delivery delays

persist, and the rollback of policies has not been fully

implemented or adequately communicated throughout the entire

Postal Service organization, which is tiered in multiple

national, regional, and local levels.

Additionally, in letters addressed to officials in 46

states, USPS acknowledged that, even absent a slowdown,

voters face a “significant risk that [they] will not have

sufficient time to complete and mail the completed ballot

back to the election official in time for it to arrive by the

state’s return deadline” and that risk is (in some cases)

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“exacerbated by the fact that the law [in some states] does

not . . . impose a time period by which election officials

must transmit a ballot to the voter.” (See, e.g., Amended

Complaint Ex. 5, at 1-2.) A two-day mail delivery delay

occasioned by postal operations, even if unintentional, would

only increase the likelihood of impairing voting rights. As

USPS has “itself forecast[ed] the injuries,” it is

“disingenuous for [USPS] to claim that the injury is not

sufficiently imminent.” See New York v. U.S. Dep’t of Homeland

Sec., 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 24492, at *25 (2d Cir. Mar. 2,

2020).

Defendants suggest that the Voter Plaintiffs have not

shown an injury, because they can avoid injury by mailing

their ballots early. The Court is not persuaded. Defendants’

argument overlooks that the mail delays will predictably

force some citizens –- such as plaintiff Shannon Spencer --

to vote in person and potentially suffer harm in the form of

exposure to COVID-19. See Black Voters Matter Fund v.

Raffensperger, No. 20 Civ. 01489, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS

143209, at *55-61 (N.D. Ga. Aug. 11, 2020) (finding injury

and standing where state law forced plaintiff to choose

between paying postage or risking COVID-19 infection by

voting in-person); see Dep’t of Commerce v. New York, 139 S.

Ct. at 2566. This prospect constitutes an injury even if

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voters “decisions [to vote in person] are illogical or

unnecessary,” by, for example, overlooking the possibility of

voting early. New York v. U.S. Dep’t of Homeland Sec., 969

F.3d at 59.

Given the substantial likelihood that, due to mail

delays, certain votes are likely not to be counted, Candidate

Plaintiffs also have standing. Contrary to Defendants’

contention, Candidate Plaintiffs need not allege that the

mail issues will cause them to lose to show an injury. The

challenged mail procedures injure electoral candidates

because “[c]andidates have an interest not only in winning or

losing their elections, but also in ensuring that the final

vote tally accurately reflects the votes cast.” Gallagher v.

N.Y. State Bd. of Elections, 20 Civ. 5504, 2020 WL 4496849,

at *9 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 3, 2020).

The Court further concludes that Plaintiffs have shown

traceability and redressability. The rollout of the

challenged policies coincided with a sharp decline in on-time

delivery rates from the already-depressed pandemic rates.

This fact, together with the testimony described above, makes

clear that the challenged mail procedures have slowed mail

service and are thus a de facto cause of Plaintiffs’ claimed

injuries. This harm may be lessened by declaratory and

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injunctive relief targeted at minimizing delays in mail

delivery.

B. MOOTNESS

Defendants argue that the Court lacks jurisdiction

because Plaintiffs’ claims are moot. Defendants contend that

USPS has suspended many measures that Plaintiffs criticized

and has a demonstrated commitment to delivering Election Mail

in a timely fashion.

“A case becomes moot -- and therefore no longer a ‘Case’

or ‘Controversy’ for purposes of Article III –- ‘when the

issues presented are no longer live or the parties lack a

legally cognizable interest in the outcome.’” Already, LLC v.

Nike, Inc., 568 U.S. 85, 91 (2013) (quoting Murphy v. Hunt,

455 U.S. 478, 481 (1982) (per curiam)). However, “a defendant

cannot automatically moot a case simply by ending its unlawful

conduct once sued.” Id. (citing City of Mesquite v. Aladdin's

Castle, Inc., 455 U.S. 283, 289 (1982). Otherwise, as the

Supreme Court explained in Nike:

a defendant could engage in unlawful conduct, stop when

sued to have the case declared moot, then pick up where
he left off, repeating this cycle until he achieves all
his unlawful ends. Given this concern, our cases have
explained that “a defendant claiming that its voluntary
compliance moots a case bears the formidable burden of
showing that it is absolutely clear the allegedly
wrongful behavior could not reasonably be expected to
recur.”

Id. (quoting Laidlaw, 528 U.S. at 190).

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Here, Defendants have not even shown that the challenged

practices have ceased. Tellingly, they declare that “nearly

all” of the challenged USPS policies and operations have been

suspended. But, how many potentially uncounted votes could

remain in undelivered mail in the gap between “all” and

“nearly all” of the practices at issue? The Government

concedes that one practice -- the “ongoing effort to improve

compliance with existing schedules” -- has not been, and will

not be, suspended. (Opposition at 13 n.9.) As discussed above,

USPS has not fully restored mail delivery service levels. See

supra. And substantial evidence indicates that the supposed

rollback of the challenged practices is either unenforced and

not yet fully implemented or possibly insincere. See supra.

The controversy Plaintiffs raise remains very much alive.

III. LEGAL STANDARDS

A. PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION

Ordinarily, a preliminary injunction may be granted when

the party seeking the injunction establishes that “1) absent

injunctive relief, it will suffer irreparable harm, and 2)

either a) that it is likely to succeed on the merits, or b)

that there are sufficiently serious questions going to the

merits to make them a fair ground for litigation, and that

the balance of hardships tips decidedly in favor of the moving

party.” Otokoyama Co. Ltd. v. Wine of Japan Import, Inc., 175

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F.3d 266, 270 (2d Cir. 1999). But when the injunction sought

is mandatory, i.e., when it “will alter rather than maintain

the status quo,” the movant must show ‘clear’ or ‘substantial’

likelihood of success. No Spray Coalition, Inc. v. City of

New York, 252 F.3d 148, 150 (2d Cir. 2001) (quoting Rodriguez

v. DeBuono, 175 F.3d 227, 233 (2d Cir. 1999)).

B. APPLICABILITY OF ANDERSON-BURDICK

One important open question with respect to the legal

standards applicable in this case, though ultimately not a

dispositive one, is whether the Court should apply the so-

called Anderson-Burdick test, derived from Anderson v.

Celebrezze, 460 U.S. 780 (1983), and Burdick v. Takushi, 504

U.S. 428 (1992). In Anderson, Burdick, and their progeny, the

Supreme Court “articulated a ‘flexible standard’ to evaluate

‘Constitutional challenges to specific provisions of a

State’s election laws.’” Daunt v. Benson, 956 F.3d 396, 406

(6th Cir. 2020) (quoting Burdick, 460 U.S. at 434; Anderson,

460 U.S. at 789). When applying the Anderson-Burdick test, a

court first considers the “character and magnitude of the

asserted injury to the rights protected by the First and

Fourteenth Amendments.” Anderson, 460 U.S. at 789. This

inquiry requires a determination of “content-neutrality and

alternate means of access.” Citizens for Legislative Choice

v. Miller, 144 F.3d 916, 921 (6th Cir. 1998). For example, a

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limitation on political participation by an identifiable

political group would not be content-neutral, and thus would

impose a severe burden. Id. As another example, a law would

impose a severe burden if it left “few alternate means of

access to the ballot” and so “restrict[ed] the availability

of political opportunity.” Daunt, 956 F.3d at 407 (quoting

Miller, 144 F.3d at 921).

After determining the burden, the court evaluates the

state’s justifications for its rule. The level of scrutiny

depends on the burden; for severe restrictions, the

regulation must be “narrowly drawn to advance a state interest

of compelling importance.” Burdick, 504 U.S. at 434. If the

state election law imposes “reasonable, nondiscriminatory

restrictions” on First and Fourteenth Amendment rights, then

“the State’s important regulatory interests are generally

sufficient to justify” the restrictions. Id. (quoting

Anderson, 460 U.S. at 788). If the state election law burden

is “moderate,” then the court uses a flexible analysis, which

involves simply weighing the burden against the state’s

asserted interest and means of pursuing it. Daunt, 956 F.3d

at 408-09 (citations omitted).

The parties dispute whether the Anderson-Burdick test

applies to Plaintiffs’ claims. The Government argues the test

is used solely to evaluate state election laws, and so is

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inapplicable here. The Government further argues that the

framework should not be extended to this case because the

assumptions underlying the framework do not apply here,

relying on the premise that this case does not implicate “the

counting of votes,” apportionment, or “election regulations,”

and also does not raise any First Amendment concerns.

(Opposition at 30.)

Plaintiffs counter that even if the Anderson-Burdick

framework does not apply, the test does not increase the level

of scrutiny applied to restrictions on the right to vote, but

rather can only reduce the applicable level of scrutiny.

Plaintiffs argue that in older cases predating Anderson-

Burdick, courts simply applied strict scrutiny without regard

to the severity of the burden. Thus, Plaintiffs assert that

even if the Court finds that Anderson-Burdick should not be

applied in a suit challenging federal actions, the claims

should still be assessed under strict scrutiny given that the

fundamental right to vote is at stake.

It is unsurprising that Anderson-Burdick has never been

applied to federal actors. After all, our country has a highly

decentralized system of election administration, in which

states and localities are primarily responsible for

regulating and managing elections. See U.S. Const. art. 1, §

4; Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc., 570 U.S.

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1, 8 (2013) (“The Elections Clause . . . imposes the duty”

on states “to prescribe the time, place, and manner of

electing Representatives and Senators”). The Court also

disagrees with the Government that this case does not

implicate “the counting of votes.” To hold otherwise would be

to ignore the facts at hand: a large number of voters will be

exercising their right to vote in the November 2020 election

by placing their ballots in the mail. There is simply no

reason for the Court to ignore the severe reality that the

country is in the middle of a deadly pandemic, that only five

states require an affirmative excuse for citizens to vote by

mail, and one state (Oregon) conducts elections entirely by

mail. Indeed, the USPS has affirmatively held itself out as

a partner to state and local election authorities, and

recognizes that it is a crucial player in the election.

Nevertheless, the Court need not decide whether

Anderson-Burdick applies. First, Plaintiffs are correct that

the test can only lower the level of scrutiny. Since the Court

finds that Plaintiffs have shown a substantial likelihood of

success on the merits even when reviewing the restrictions

under a lower standard, Anderson-Burdick is largely beside

the point. Second, and relatedly, the framework may not yield

a different outcome than the traditional equal protection and

First Amendment analyses. Indeed, at the first step --

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deciding the burden -- a court asks essentially the same

questions that are relevant to straightforward First

Amendment and Equal Protection analyses, e.g., content-

neutrality and alternative means of access. For these

reasons, the Court declines to answer whether Anderson-

Burdick should be extended to cases challenging the

constitutionality of restrictions on voting caused by a

federal entity.

C. APPLICABILITY OF MCDONALD

The Government also argues that under McDonald v. Board

of Election Commissioners of Chicago, 394 U.S. 802 (1969),

the Court should apply rational basis review.12 McDonald

involved an Illinois statute that denied certain inmates

mail-in ballots. The Court held that the statute did not

restrict their right to vote, but rather only their asserted

right to an absentee ballot, and that they were thus not

“absolutely prohibited from voting by the State.” Id. at 808

n.7. The Court observed that the record lacked evidence that

the State would not, for example, “furnish the jails with

special polling booths . . . or provide guarded transportation

12The Court notes a tension in the Government’s position. The Government

argues that Anderson-Burdick applies only to cases involving state
election laws, but McDonald similarly involved a state election law, and
asked whether voters were being prohibited from voting “by the State.”
394 U.S. at 808 n.7. If Anderson-Burdick should not apply, neither should
McDonald.

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to the polls.” Id. at 808 n.6. On these facts, the Court

applied rational basis review and upheld the statute.

The Court finds that McDonald is inapposite. The Supreme

Court has expressly restricted its applicability to cases in

which there is no evidence showing that the challenged

restriction will prohibit the plaintiff from voting. As the

Supreme Court recognized just a few years later, first in

Goosby v. Osser, 409 U.S. 512 (1973), and then again in

O’Brien v. Skinner, 414 U.S. 524 (1974), McDonald was a case

that “[e]ssentially . . . rested on failure of proof,” because

there was nothing in the record to show that the inmates were

“in fact absolutely prohibited from voting by the State.”

O’Brien, 414 U.S. at 529 (quoting McDonald, 394 U.S. at 808

n.7). And again, in Hill v. Stone, 421 U.S. 289, 300 n.9

(1974), the Court distinguished McDonald as a case in which

“there was nothing in the record to indicate that the

challenged Illinois statute had any impact” on the right to

vote. The Court pointed to language in McDonald stating that

“[a]ny classification actually restraining the fundamental

right to vote . . . would be subject to close scrutiny.” Id.

Where the facts demonstrate that there is a “not trivial”

burden on the right to vote, McDonald is inapplicable. Price

v. New York State Bd. of Elections, 540 F.3d 101, 110 (2d

Cir. 2008); see also id. at 109 (“[I]t is important only that

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there is at least some burden on the voter-plaintiffs’

rights.”); see also id. at 109 n.9 (“McDonald does not alter

our analysis . . . [because] the record in this case is not

similarly barren.”). Because such facts are in the record

before the Court, McDonald is distinguishable and rational

basis review inappropriate.13

IV. LEGAL ANALYSIS

Because the Court finds that Anderson-Burdick does not

govern the analysis, Plaintiffs’ claims must be assessed as

standalone equal protection and First Amendment violations.

The Court begins with Plaintiffs’ Fifth Amendment equal

protection claim.

A. EQUAL PROTECTION CLAIM

Plaintiffs argue that USPS’s policies and practices

generally, and specifically as they relate to Election Mail,

do not comport with the Fifth Amendment’s guarantee of equal

protection because they render voters’ ability to cast an

effective vote dependent on arbitrary factors, such as the

particular USPS branch that handles their ballots.

13 While the Fifth Circuit recently upheld the continued validity of

McDonald in the equal protection context in Texas Democratic Party v.
Abbott, 961 F.3d 389 (5th Cir. 2020), that court did not squarely address
whether there may be a right to access an absentee ballot in conditions
of national emergency, such as this country has been facing for several
months now, given that a law requiring in-person voting presents severe
burdens -- a proposition not contested by the Government.

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“[E]qual protection . . . require[s] the uniform

treatment of” similarly situated individuals. Reynolds v.

Sims, 377 U.S. 533, 565 (1964). “The right to vote is

protected in more than the initial allocation of the

franchise. Equal protection applies as well to the manner of

its exercise.” Bush v. Gore, 531 U.S. 98, 104 (2000) (per

curiam). Once citizens have been granted the right to vote,

the government “may not, by later arbitrary and disparate

treatment, value one person’s vote over that of another.” Id.

at 104-05 (citing Harper v. Virginia Bd. of Elections, 383

U.S. 663, 665 (1966)).14

In a series of apportionment cases in the 1960s, the

Supreme Court developed the one person, one vote standard,

which requires that congressional, state, and local

legislative districting schemes be designed to weight votes

equally.15 In Reynolds, for example, the Court held that “the

14 Harper and Bush v. Gore were decided under the Fourteenth Amendment
Equal Protection Clause, which applies only to the states. Although the
Fifth Amendment, which binds the federal government, contains no explicit
guarantee of equal protection, “[e]qual protection analysis in the Fifth
Amendment area is the same as that under the Fourteenth Amendment.”
Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1, 93 (1976), superseded on other grounds by
statute, see McConnell v. Fed. Election Comm’n, 540 U.S. 93 (2003);
Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Pena, 515 U.S. 200, 214-218 (1995);
Weinberger v. Wiesenfeld, 420 U.S. 636, 638 n.2 (1975) (“This Court’s
approach to Fifth Amendment equal protection claims has always been
precisely the same as to equal protection claims under the Fourteenth
Amendment.”). Indeed, it would be “unthinkable that the same Constitution
would impose a lesser duty on the Federal Government” than on the states.
Bolling v. Sharpe, 347 U.S. 497, 500 (1954).
15 Of course, exceptions always exist. Special purpose districts, for

example, are not subject to the one person, one vote standard. See, e.g.,
Salyer Land Co. v. Tulare Lake Basin Water Storage Dist., 410 U.S. 719

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Equal Protection Clause requires that the seats in both

houses of a bicameral state legislature must be apportioned

on a population basis” to ensure votes are weighted equally.

377 U.S. at 568. The Court explained that “[d]iluting the

weight of votes because of place of residence” violates the

Equal Protection Clause “just as much as invidious

discriminations based upon factors such as race or economic

status.” Id. at 566 (internal citations omitted).

The Reynolds Court offered two theories to explain the

importance of an equally weighted vote. First, the Court

explained that an equally weighted vote is necessary to ensure

that citizens have effective representation:

[R]epresentative government is in essence self-

government through the medium of elected representatives
of the people, and each and every citizen has an
inalienable right to full and effective participation in
the political processes of his State’s legislative
bodies. Most citizens can achieve this participation
only as qualified voters through the election of
legislators to represent them. Full and effective
participation by all citizens in state government
requires, therefore, that each citizen have an equally
effective voice in the election of members of his state
legislature.

Id. at 565. Second, the Court reasoned that malapportioned

districts communicate a message of inequality, suggesting

that some are “less a citizen” than others. Reynolds, 377

(1973) (holding that elections for the directors of a water-storage

district could weight votes according to the assessed valuation of each
voter's land).

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U.S. at 567. The Court deemed such a message inconsistent

with “[t]he concept of ‘we the people’ under the Constitution”

which “visualizes no preferred class of voters.” Id. at 558.

The Supreme Court extended the equal protection

principles of its one person, one vote jurisprudence in Bush

v. Gore to decide the constitutionality of the mechanisms

used to recount votes in Florida. The Court’s analysis began

by observing that “the right to vote as the legislature has

prescribed is fundamental; and one source of its fundamental

nature lies in the equal weight accorded to each vote and the

equal dignity owed to each voter.” 531 U.S. at 104. The Court

then articulated the rule that equal protection entails an

“obligation to avoid arbitrary and disparate treatment of the

members of [the] electorate” that results in “valu[ing] one

person’s vote over that of another.” Id. at 104-05.

Applying these principles, the Supreme Court concluded

that the “the recount mechanisms implemented” in Florida did

“not satisfy the minimum requirement for nonarbitrary

treatment of voters.” Id. at 105. “Much of the controversy”

in that case “revolve[d] around ballot cards designed to be

perforated by a stylus but which, either through error or

deliberate omission, ha[d] not been perforated with

sufficient precision for a machine to register the

perforations.” Id. The Florida Supreme Court “ordered that

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the intent of the voter be discerned from such ballots.” Id.

The Supreme Court deemed this command “unobjectionable as an

abstract proposition and a starting principle.” Id. at 106.

The problem, in the Supreme Court’s view, was “the

absence of specific standards to ensure its equal

application.” Id. Absent precise guidance from the Florida

Supreme Court, different counties “used varying standards to

determine what was a legal vote.” Id. at 107.16 Even

dissenting Justices Souter and Breyer agreed with the

majority that more uniform recount standards should have been

applied. See id. at 134 (Souter, J., dissenting) (“I can

conceive of no legitimate state interest served by these

differing treatments of the expressions of voters’

fundamental rights. The differences appear wholly

arbitrary.”); id. at 146 (Breyer, J., dissenting) (“I agree

that, in these very special circumstances, basic principles

of fairness should have counseled the adoption of a uniform

standard to address the problem.”).

In Gallagher v. New York State Board of Elections, No.

20 Civ. 5504, 2020 WL 4496849, at *19 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 3, 2020),

16 Additional equal protection problems the Supreme Court identified

included (1) differences in the treatment of undervotes and overvotes,
(2) the lack of “assurance that the recounts included in a final
certification must be complete,” and (3) the failure to specify who would
count ballots and how observers could make objections. See Bush v. Gore,
531 U.S. at 107-09.

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the district court relied on Bush v. Gore to hold that

plaintiffs demonstrated a likelihood of success on their

equal protection claim where due to the “inconsistent

application of postmarks to absentee ballots” by USPS, the

primary election “suffered from a lack of ‘specific standards

to ensure . . . equal application’ of [the state statute’s]

postmark rule.” Specifically, the Court found “strong

evidence that USPS locations in Brooklyn handled absentee

ballots differently from the postal service locations in the

other boroughs” and that “a significant number of Brooklyn

ballots that should have been postmarked were not.” Id. The

court reasoned that “[w]hether an individual’s vote will be

counted in this race, therefore, may depend in part on

something completely arbitrary -- their place of residence

and by extension, the mailbox or post office where they

dropped off their ballot.” Id. Such an arbitrary process, the

court explained, lacked “sufficient guarantees of equal

treatment” and constituted “the type of differential

treatment that the Supreme Court has found to violate the one

person, one vote principle.” Id. (quoting Bush v. Gore, 531

U.S. at 107).

Defendants contend that Plaintiffs’ equal protection

claim cannot succeed because Plaintiffs have not alleged

purposeful or intentional discrimination. This argument

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reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of the one person,

one vote standard. The one person, one vote doctrine does not

“place on plaintiffs any burden of proving that” a system

that unequally weights or counts votes “represents a

deliberate effort to dilute some group’s voting power.”

Tucker v. U.S. Dep’t of Commerce, 958 F.2d 1411, 1414 (7th

Cir. 1992); see Grant M. Hayden, The False Promise of One

Person, One Vote, 102 Mich. L. Rev. 213, 222 (2003) (“[T]he

one person, one vote standard . . . enjoys the doctrinal

privilege of being one of the few Equal Protection Clause

violations actionable without a showing of discriminatory

intent.”). In cases where a showing of intentional

discrimination is required, that requirement serves “to

prevent the concept of equal protection from being used to

invalidate governmental policies that just happen to bear

more heavily against a vulnerable group.” Tucker, 958 F.2d at

1414. In contrast, the one person, one vote cases “vindicate

a right that the Supreme Court has found to be implicit in

the Constitution” to an election system that fairly counts

and weights votes. Id. The “failure to create the required

mechanism is an intentional denial of the right to an equally

weighted vote.” Id.

Thus, in Bush v. Gore, the Court concluded that a

violation of equal protection occurred without making a

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finding of discriminatory intent on the part of the Florida

Legislature or the Florida Supreme Court. See Gallagher, 2020

WL 4496849, at *20. Similarly, in Harper, on which Bush v.

Gore relied, the Supreme Court invalidated a poll tax absent

evidence of an intent to discriminate based on race or wealth.

Harper, 383 U.S. at 670. With regard to the state’s argument

that the poll tax was as innocuous as a driver’s license fee,

the Court remarked that “[t]he degree of discrimination is

irrelevant.” Id. at 668. Likewise, when a plaintiff

challenges a Congressional districting plan on a one person,

one vote theory, the plaintiff need only show that “the

population differences among districts could have been

reduced or eliminated altogether by a good-faith effort to

draw districts of equal population.” Karcher v. Daggett, 462

U.S. 725, 730 (1983); see Franklin v. Massachusetts, 505 U.S.

788, 806 (1992) (citing Karcher for the proposition that

plaintiffs “bear [the] burden of proving disparate

representation”).17 The burden then shifts to the government

to show “that each significant variance between districts was

necessary to achieve some legitimate goal.” Karcher, 462 U.S.

at 731.

17 Although Defendants cited Franklin in their Opposition, they do not

discuss this aspect of the Supreme Court’s decision. (See Opposition at
25 n.20 (citing Franklin, 505 U.S. at 802-03).)

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In sum, the Supreme Court has consistently declined to

require a showing of discriminatory purpose in the context of

one person, one vote cases. Defendants offer no authority to

the contrary. Accordingly, the Court will not impose such a

requirement in this case. In any event, the Court observes

that OIG reports had put USPS on notice of inconsistencies in

the handling of Election Mail and the need for improved

communications and training on Election Mail processes. (See

Tinio Decl. Ex. 4, at 1 (discussing prior audits)).

Defendants further contend that the equal protection

principles Plaintiffs invoke do not apply to USPS’s handling

of Election Mail. Yet, states are relying on USPS as a “vital

partner in administering a safe, successful election.”

(Amended Complaint Ex. 7 (Letter from the leadership of the

National Association of Secretaries of State to DeJoy dated

August 7, 2020)). And, even the nuts and bolts of election

administration must comport with equal protection. Bush v.

Gore stands for the proposition that an equal protection

violation occurs when arbitrary disparities in voting

mechanisms make it less likely that voters in certain areas

will cast votes that count. Nonuniform mail service functions

in the same way as the nonuniform vote counting standards at

issue in Bush v. Gore, making it less likely that absentee

voters in certain areas will cast votes that count, due in

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substantial part to failures in the Postal Service’s Election

Mail operations. Defendants offer no persuasive explanation

for why USPS should be exempt from the same standards that

apply to other government entities that handle ballots.

Defendants cannot seriously contend, for example, that the

Constitution permits USPS to refuse to carry the ballots of

minority voters or to arbitrarily shred ballots. See Wesberry

v. Sanders, 376 U.S. 1, 17 (1964) (“Not only can this right

to vote not be denied outright, it cannot, consistently with

Article I, be destroyed by alteration of ballots or diluted

by stuffing of the ballot box.”) (citing United States v.

Classic, 313 U.S. 229 (1941); United States v. Saylor, 322

U.S. 385 (1944)).

The cases described above all concern disparities in the

weighting and counting of votes cast within the same state.

Defendants contend that “it is not clear how the ‘one person,

one vote’ principle could ever be applied across state lines.”

(Opposition at 25 n.19.) Defendants’ point is that, in federal

elections, a voter’s vote is not weighted exactly the same as

those of voters in other states. Consider, for example,

elections for the United States Senate. The two Senators from

Wyoming represent around 580,000 people, while the two

Senators from California represent over 39 million people. An

individual voter in Wyoming therefore comprises a larger

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share of the electorate than an individual voter in

California. This deviation from population-based

representation reflects the “Great Compromise” that resolved

the “bitter controversy” between large and small states that

“came near ending the [Constitutional] Convention without a

Constitution.” Wesberry, 376 U.S. at 10-13. With regard to

the United States House of Representatives, the Great

Compromise called for Representatives to “represent the

people as individuals, and on a basis of complete equality

for each voter.” Id. at 14. This aim, however, cannot be

perfectly achieved. Although Congressional districting

schemes can achieve near mathematical equality within each

state, it is “virtually impossible to have the same size

district in any pair of states.” U.S. Dep’t of Commerce v.

Montana, 503 U.S. 442, 463 (1992) (emphasis added). This

result follows because Article 1, Section 2 of the

Constitution requires that a fixed number of Representatives

be allocated among states of varying sizes, so that even the

smallest states have at least one Representative, and that

Representatives not be split between states. See id. And, due

to the design of the Electoral College -- in which each state

has as many electors as it has Senators and Representatives

in Congress -- these interstate disparities carry over into

presidential elections. See U.S. Const. art. II, § 1. Thus,

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in the interstate context, votes are weighted with

constitutional proportionality rather than exact mathematical

equality.

The Defendants are not sure what to make of this

electoral phenomenon. They offer no precedent or argument on

what the right to an equal vote means in the interstate

context. Defendants’ only remark in this regard is that “it

is not clear . . . .” (See Opposition at 25 n.19.)

But one proposition is abundantly clear. The Supreme

Court’s one person, one vote decisions are concerned with

ensuring voters’ rights to fair and effective representation

and equal dignity, and these rights retain their force even

when votes are not weighted with precise mathematical

equality. In Gray v. Sanders, 372 U.S. 368, 380 (1963), the

Court observed that “the Constitution visualizes no preferred

class of voters,” and underscored “the dignity” of “the right

to have one’s vote counted.” The Court’s decision in Reynolds

echoed this emphasis on the equal dignity of voters,

recognizing that “[a] citizen, a qualified voter, is no more

nor no less so because he lives in the city or on the farm.”

377 U.S. at 568. The Court in Reynolds further proclaimed

that “every citizen has an inalienable right to full and

effective participation in the political processes of his

State’s legislative bodies.” Id. at 565. And, in Bush v. Gore,

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the Court reaffirmed “the equal dignity owed to each voter.”

531 U.S. at 529.

To effectuate these rights, the Court required that

votes be weighted equally for purposes of Congressional and

state legislative elections. See Reynolds, 377 U.S. at 565

(“Full and effective participation by all citizens in state

government requires, therefore, that each citizen have an

equally effective voice in the election of members of his

state legislature.”); id. at 567 (“To the extent that a

citizen’s right to vote is debased, he is that much less a

citizen.”). In other words, an equally weighted vote is a

means of putting into operation a broader right of political

equality. The Supreme Court endorsed this understanding in

Gaffney v. Cummings, 412 U.S. 735, 748 (1973), explaining

that the “reason” the Court “insisted on substantial equality

of populations among districts” in Reynolds was to “achiev[e]

fair and effective representation for all citizens.”

It follows that a voter’s right to fair and effective

representation and equal dignity can be vindicated even when

her vote is not accorded exactly equal weight to that of other

voters. “Fair and effective representation . . . does not

depend solely on mathematical equality among district

populations.” Id. at 748-49. The Supreme Court has cautioned

against “[a]n unrealistic overemphasis on raw population

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figures.” Id. at 749.18 Indeed, with regard to the United

States House of Representatives, the Supreme Court has

plainly instructed:

While it may not be possible to draw congressional

districts with mathematical precision, that is no excuse
for ignoring our Constitution’s plain objective of
making equal representation for equal numbers of people
the fundamental goal for the House of Representatives.
That is the high standard of justice and common sense
which the Founders set for us.

Wesberry, 376 U.S. at 18.

In sum, Defendants’ doubts about the applicability of

the one person, one vote cases in the interstate context

reflect a reductivist reading of those cases as focused on

equipopulous districts. But the one person, one vote cases

recognize a voter’s rights to fair and effective

representation and equal dignity -- rights which retain force

in the interstate context. Consider, for example, a voter in

Portland, Oregon, who intends to cast a vote in a

Congressional race. If her ballot is not transmitted in time

due to her local post office’s delays, her “right to full and

18An equally weighted vote is a legal fiction insofar as apportionment

reflects imperfect census data. See Karcher, 462 U.S. at 732 (“[C]ensus
data are not perfect . . . .”); Gaffney, 412 U.S. at 745 (recognizing
that census data “are inherently less than absolutely accurate”).
Moreover, even where the requirement for equally populated districts
applies, districts can deviate somewhat from equal population to achieve
permissible goals. See Gaffney, 412 U.S. at 741-42 (discussing permissible
deviations for Congressional districts and state legislative districts);
see also Mahan v. Howell, 410 U.S. 315, 319 (1973) (upholding an
apportionment plan for a state legislature with a 16.4 percent maximum
variation).

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effective participation in the political processes of h[er]

[Nation]’s legislative bodies” is impaired relative to that

of both in-state and out-of-state voters with access to USPS

branches functioning effectively. Reynolds, 377 U.S. at 565.

Though the election challenges now confronting our

nation are unprecedented, a suit against the federal

government for violating the right to an equal vote is not

novel. See, e.g., Wisconsin v. City of N.Y., 517 U.S. 1

(1996); Franklin, 505 U.S. 788; U.S. Dep’t of Commerce v.

Montana, 503 U.S. 442. In Montana, plaintiffs sued the federal

government, alleging that the method used to determine the

number of Representatives to which each state is entitled in

the House of Representatives violated Article I, Section 2.

Essentially, plaintiffs disagreed with the mathematical

formula that Congress adopted to apportion seats among the

states. The method that Congress selected aimed to minimize

the relative differences between the size of Congressional

districts. Plaintiffs preferred an approach that would have

minimized absolute deviations from the ideal district size.

Recognizing that the claims raised a question of interstate,

rather than intrastate, voting equality, the Court deemed the

questions justiciable, but ultimately concluded that “the

polestar of equal representation does not provide sufficient

guidance to allow” the Court to decide between the parties’

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preferred mathematical measures of inequality. Id. at 463;

see id. at 461 (“[I]t is by no means clear that the facts

here establish a violation of the Wesberry standard.”). The

Court further reasoned that Congress is due “a measure of

discretion that is broader than that” due the states in making

apportionment decisions. Id. at 464. As plaintiffs had not

shown that any alternative method was more consistent with

equal representation than Congress’s chosen method, and

because Congress’s choice was supported by historical

practice and entitled to deference, the Court upheld

Congress’s “apparently good-faith choice.” Id.

Franklin involved a challenge to the Secretary of

Commerce’s decision to allocate federal employees serving

overseas to states for purposes of the apportionment count.

The Secretary’s decision to allocate oversees federal

employees to their home states altered population counts

enough to shift a Representative from Massachusetts to

Washington. The Court concluded that “[t]he Secretary’s

judgment does not hamper the underlying constitutional goal

of equal representation” and “assuming that employees

temporarily stationed abroad have indeed retained their ties

to their home States, actually promotes equality.” Franklin,

505 U.S. at 806.

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In Wisconsin, relying on Franklin and Montana, the

Supreme Court upheld the Census Bureau’s decision not to

statistically adjust the 1990 Census results to correct for

a differential undercount of racial and ethnic minority

groups. 517 U.S. 1. The Second Circuit had applied heightened

scrutiny to review the Secretary’s decision because it

affected the fundamental right to an equal vote. Id. at 4.

The Supreme Court reversed, emphasizing that “the text of the

Constitution vests Congress with virtually unlimited

discretion in conducting the decennial ‘actual enumeration,’”

and that the Secretary’s decision was made “pursuant to

Congress’ direct delegation of its broad authority . . . .”

Id. at 19, 17. The Court further observed that application of

strict scrutiny to the Secretary’s decision concerning a

statistical adjustment would be inconsistent with Montana’s

recognition that constitutional goal of equal representation

does not provide a means of choosing between various measures

of equality. Id. at 17-18. Rather than applying strict

scrutiny to the Secretary’s decision, the Supreme Court set

forth the following standard:

[S]o long as the Secretary’s conduct of the census is

consistent with the constitutional language and the
constitutional goal of equal representation, it is
within the limits of the Constitution. In light of the
Constitution’s broad grant of authority to Congress, the
Secretary’s decision not to adjust need bear only a
reasonable relationship to the accomplishment of an

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actual enumeration of the population, keeping in mind

the constitutional purpose of the census.

Id. at 19-20 (quotations and citations omitted). On the

facts, the Court concluded that the Secretary’s decision

conformed to constitutional requirements.

Collectively, these decisions confirm that the right to

equal representation recognized in the Supreme Court’s one

person, one vote cases applies in the interstate context,

even though an equal vote in the interstate context is one of

constitutionally proportional -- as opposed to mathematically

equal -- weight. They also suggest that, when an agency is

exercising authority delegated by Congress, the agency is due

greater deference than states are given in malapportionment

cases.

Applying the above principles, the Court concludes that

Plaintiffs have demonstrated a substantial likelihood of

success on their Fifth Amendment equal protection claim.

Equal protection entails an “obligation to avoid arbitrary

and disparate treatment of the members of [the] electorate”

that results in “valu[ing] one person’s vote over that of

another.” Bush v. Gore, 531 U.S. at 104-05. An equal

protection violation occurs when arbitrary disparities in

voting mechanisms make it less likely that voters in certain

areas will cast votes that count. See id.

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Here, Plaintiffs have identified a profound and

troubling lack of standards and uniformity with regard to

USPS’s handling of Election Mail. One example is the July 14

PowerPoint. This PowerPoint states that because of “HIS

expectations” (i.e., DeJoy’s), “[o]vertime will be

eliminated.” (Supp. Green Decl. at 2.) Yet DeJoy testified to

Congress, “I have never put a limitation on overtime.” (Tinio

Decl. Ex. 14 at 25.) The PowerPoint warns that “[a]ll routes

will have no more than 4 park points. We will be moving

towards that this summer.” (Supp. Green Decl. at 4.) Yet

Defendants submit that “there is no nationwide USPS policy

setting a fixed cap on the number of park points.” (Opposition

at 20; Colin Decl. ¶¶ 13-14.) Defendants argue that this

document was “prepared by a local manager,” that it never

represented Postal Service policy, and that the district-

level manager issued a clarification. (Opposition at 19

n.14.) Yet the fact remains that the creator of the document

perceived the content to reflect DeJoy’s expectations. This

demonstrates a stunning lack of uniformity and a high level

of confusion at various points in the USPS hierarchy regarding

the standards to be followed by USPS employees on the ground.

So too with other evidence in the record. The Mandatory

Standup Talk states in clear terms that “late trips are no

longer authorized or accepted,” and the same for extra trips.

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(Amended Complaint Ex. 1.) Defendants have insisted that this

document mischaracterizes official policy. (Opposition at 18

n.13; Cintron Decl. ¶ 24 n.1.) Yet Curtis and Cintron both

testified that the contents of this Talk “draw[] from a July

10, 2020 teleconference, conducted with [Area Vice

Presidents] and members of Headquarters,” and that during the

teleconference, “members of Headquarters made statements

reflected, in part,” in the Talk. (Supp. Cintron Decl. ¶ 3;

Supp. Curtis Decl. ¶ 3.) Curtis testified at the hearing that,

“at least” for her part, she “walked away with the

understanding that . . . [they] were going to have to work

through,” in each case, what had caused a late trip, and so

did not perceive the guidance to mean “a ban on late or extra

trips.” (Tr. 75:18–76:8.) In other words, the Talk contained

“some absolutes” where Defendants contend Headquarters

intended none. (Tr. 75:17-18.) Needless to say, the author of

the Standup Talk perceived the applicable rule differently.

With respect to both the July 14 PowerPoint and the

Standup Talk, Defendants stress that USPS took corrective

action, specifically that clarifications were issued, and the

employee who wrote the PowerPoint was even demoted. Yet on

reply, Plaintiffs submitted a Twitter post-dating to

September 6, 2020, displaying a photo of a banner in the

Portland, Oregon plant that states, in no uncertain terms,

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that trucks must depart on time with no exceptions. According

to the person who posted the image, Postal Service truck

drivers have claimed some trucks leave nearly empty due to

DeJoy’s “mandate.” (Jamison Reply Decl. Ex. 1.) Months later,

it appears that whatever top-down communication issues caused

the creation and communication of the July 14 PowerPoint and

the Standup talk have not been resolved. A conclusion that

these managerial and communication deficiencies are likely to

impact the handling of Election Mail finds strong support in

the OIG’s reports, which have identified the need for improved

communications and training regarding the handling of such

mail. (See Tinio Decl. Ex. 4, at 1.) The Court is left with

little reason to believe that the USPS policy and operational

picture will be any clearer for postal employees as the

November election approaches.

Plaintiffs have thus made a sufficient showing that the

lack of uniformity in the Postal Service’s treatment of

Election Mail among local post offices will result in

intrastate and interstate disparities in citizens’ voting

power. As in Bush v. Gore, the “absence of specific standards”

facilitates the “arbitrary and disparate treatment [of]

voters” and, ultimately, the unequal weighting of votes

across geographic areas. 531 U.S. at 106-107. Specifically,

“[w]hether an individual’s vote will be counted . . . may

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depend in part on something completely arbitrary -- their

place of residence and by extension, the mailbox or post

office where they dropped off their ballot.” Gallagher, 2020

WL 4496849, at *19. The predictable outcome of the

differential treatment of ballots within and across states by

reason of mail handling delays would constitute a dilution of

votes, an impairment of the right to fair and effective

representation, and a violation of the equal dignity owed to

each voter.

The Court need not decide the level of scrutiny that

should apply to USPS’s actions because it is likely that

Plaintiffs would succeed under any standard. If, for example,

the Court applies a deferential standard similar to the test

announced in Montana, Plaintiffs will likely establish an

equal protection violation. USPS’s non-uniform, and at

different times and places conflicting or confusing Election

Mail policies and practices are not consistent with securing

“the goal of equal representation.” 503 U.S. at 462 n.41.

USPS has offered no satisfactory explanation for failing

to set clear, uniform policies for the handling of Election

Mail. It has given no persuasive assurances that the

“practices” it touts to ensure the delivery of Election Mail

will be uniformly applied. USPS’s purported rollback of

“nearly all” policies linked to mail delays is either

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incompletely implemented, inadequately communicated

throughout the organization, or unreliable. The institutional

confusion in Postal Service communications, operations, and

practices that Plaintiffs have identified can serve no

legitimate purpose. With regard to the one challenged policy

that USPS is officially retaining –- the restriction of “lates

and extras” (Tr. 47:25-48:1) -- Plaintiffs will likely

succeed in demonstrating that USPS lacks a legitimate

justification for rolling out (and retaining) the policy,

which has contributed to meaningful documented delays in

service, in the middle of a pandemic when service standards

were already impaired and a vast influx of mail-in ballots

expected. (See Green Decl. Ex. 2.)

For these reasons, the Court concludes that USPS has

“not satisf[ied] the minimum requirement for nonarbitrary

treatment of voters necessary to secure the fundamental

right.” Bush v. Gore, 531 U.S. at 106.

B. FIRST AMENDMENT CLAIM

Because the Court finds that Plaintiffs have

demonstrated that injunctive relief is warranted under the

Fifth Amendment, it need not reach Plaintiffs’ arguments

regarding the infringement of their First Amendment right to

vote. However, given the uncharted territory and open legal

questions raised by the facts in this case, and to obviate a

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remand in the event, on appeal, the Second Circuit disagrees

with the Court’s Fifth Amendment holding, the Court

alternatively finds that Plaintiffs have demonstrated a clear

and substantial likelihood of success on the merits of their

First Amendment claim.

The First Amendment provides that “Congress shall make

no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech.” It is well

established that voting implicates First Amendment rights.

Yang, 960 F.3d at 130 (“[Plaintiffs’] interest . . . ‘to cast

their vote effectively’ falls squarely within the ambit of

the protection offered by the First Amendment.”). While

election-related cases generally involve states and not the

federal government, given states’ “broad power to regulate

the time, place, and manner of elections,” the

“responsibility to observe the limits established by the

First Amendment,” Eu v. S.F. Cty. Democratic Cent. Comm., 489

U.S. 214, 222 (1989) (quoting Tashjian v. Republican Party of

Conn., 479 U.S. 208, 217 (1986)), applies with no less force

to the federal government. Furthermore, laws enacted under

the postal power must also comply with the First Amendment.

See Hiett v. United States, 415 F.2d 664, 669 (5th Cir. 1969)

(a law that affects expression -- here, a prohibition on

mailing an advertisement for getting a divorce abroad -- must

not violate the First Amendment “even if enacted under the

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postal power,” despite its broad nature); Tollett v. United

States, 485 F.2d 1087, 1091 (8th Cir. 1973) (construing a law

“in the light of the First Amendment rather than in the light

of any regulatory power granted to the Postal Service”);

Greenberg v. Bolger, 497 F. Supp. 756, 775 (E.D.N.Y. 1980)

(noting “the obvious relationship” between access to the

mails and the First Amendment).

Defendants assert, however, that this case does not

implicate either “First Amendment voting interests” or “free

expression through the mail.” (Opposition at 31.)19 Instead,

Defendants urge that the challenged conduct consists of

“operational decisions” that concern “only the timing of the

physical delivery of mailed ballots.” (Opposition at 31.) The

Government further argues that in any event, such a claim

would fail because “a conduct-regulating statute of general

application that imposes an incidental burden on the exercise

of free speech rights does not implicate the First Amendment.”

19Defendants also argue that plaintiffs have waived any stand-alone First
Amendment claim other than the Anderson-Burdick framework. The Court
disagrees, given that the Complaint and Amended Complaint clearly allege
an infringement of their First Amendment Right to Vote, and Plaintiffs’
opening brief devotes an entire section to the applicability of the First
Amendment to the Postal Service. (Brief at 11-12 (“First Amendment
Scrutiny Applies to Acts of USPS . . . .”).) Defendants cannot claim they
were not on notice with respect to a First Amendment claim, and indeed
the Opposition disputes the validity of such a claim. See Beckman v. U.S.
Postal Serv., 79 F. Supp. 2d 394, 407 (S.D.N.Y. 2000). Furthermore,
because the Government does not argue that First Amendment scrutiny does
not apply in general to the USPS, they have conceded that point.

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(Opposition at 37 (quoting Church of Am. Knights of the Ku

Klux Klan v. Kerik, 356 F.3d 197, 209 (2d Cir. 2004)).)

The Court disagrees. Plaintiffs allege more than an

incidental burden on their right to vote: Plaintiffs allege

that due to confusion and misdirection at the Postal Service,

and coinciding with a pandemic that effectively necessitates

voting by mail, there is a substantial likelihood that their

ballots will not be counted because of delays in Election

Mail service. See Florida Democratic Party v. Scott, 215 F.

Supp. 3d 1250, 1257 (N.D. Fla. 2016) (explaining that because

“statutory framework completely disenfranchises thousands of

voters,” it “amounts to a severe burden on the right to

vote”). Couching the challenged actions as operational

decisions cannot convert this risk to an incidental burden on

Plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights. Even if the challenged

actions could be construed as operational decisions, the USPS

cannot accomplish through such means what would otherwise

constitute a burden on the right to vote. This outcome holds

especially when the Government hails the herculean efforts by

the USPS to assist state election officials, including by

conducting outreach and implementing purported special mail

handling practices. (Opposition at 34 (“USPS is undertaking

extensive efforts to ensure timely delivery of Election Mail,

with the express aim of preventing the possible

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disenfranchisement which plaintiffs hold up as a severe

burden.”).) By the same token, election officials rely on

USPS as a “vital partner in administering a safe, successful

election.” (Amended Complaint Ex. 7.)

The Court thus finds that the First Amendment is

implicated in Plaintiffs’ voting rights claim. In the usual

First Amendment context, a court assesses multiple factors,

including whether the forum subject to the restriction is

public. Here, it is settled that the mail is not a public

forum. See USPS v. Council of Greenburgh Civic Assocs., 453

U.S. 114 (1981). Normally, when the government regulates

speech in a nonpublic forum, the regulation need only be

reasonable and content-neutral. Silberberg v. Bd. of

Elections of N.Y., 216 F. Supp. 3d 411, 417 (S.D.N.Y. 2016);

Longo v. U.S.P.S., 983 F.2d 9, 11 (2d Cir. 1992) (upholding

USPS regulation prohibiting campaigning on postal premises).

For example, in Council of Greenburgh, a civic association

umbrella group wanted to distribute messages in residents’

letterboxes without going through the USPS, and challenged a

law that forbid them from doing so. The Court recognized the

broad postal power conferred by Article I, but noted that “it

may not of course be exercised by Congress in a manner that

abridges the freedom of speech or of the press protected by

the First Amendment.” Nevertheless, the Court rejected the

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civic group’s First Amendment claim. Because mail is not a

public forum, the Court simply determined whether the

challenged restriction was reasonable and content-neutral.

Greenburgh, 453 U.S. at 131 n.7. Because it was, it was

permissible. Id. at 132.

Because this case involves voting rights, the usual non-

public forum analysis is rendered less apt. Indeed,

Plaintiffs suggest that because Defendants have infringed

their voting rights, if Defendants’ conduct is not assessed

under Anderson-Burdick, strict scrutiny automatically

applies. (Reply at 12 n.9 (“[M]any older voting rights

decisions apply strict scrutiny automatically as soon as the

right to vote is restrained . . . .”).) To be sure, “[t]he

right to vote derives from the right of association that is

at the core of the First Amendment.” Storer v. Brown, 415

U.S. 724, 756 (1974) (Brennan, J., dissenting).

For example, in Evans v. Corman, 398 U.S. 419 (1970),

the Court struck down a Maryland statute that barred residents

of a federal enclave (the National Institutes of Health) from

voting. The Court noted that “the right to vote, as the

citizen’s link to h[er] laws and government, is protective of

all fundamental rights and privileges. And before that right

can be restricted, the purpose of the restriction and the

assertedly overriding interests served by it must meet close

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constitutional scrutiny.” Id. at 422 (citations omitted). The

Court rejected Maryland’s only asserted interest, which was

ensuring that only those citizens who were substantially

affected by electoral decisions could have a voice.

Similarly, in Cipriano v. City of Houma, 395 U.S. 701 (1969),

another Fourteenth Amendment case, the Court applied strict

scrutiny because the challenged state statute only permitted

some people to vote in a utility bond election. See also

Kramer v. Union Free Sch. Dist. No. 15, 395 U.S. 621, 626

(1969) (“[A]ny alleged infringement of the right of citizens

to vote must be carefully and meticulously scrutinized.”).

The most recent and most relevant example of application

of strict scrutiny to assess a voting rights claim in the

Election Mail context is Gallagher. There, the court noted

that the question before the court was not the abstract burden

presented by the New York statute, but rather the “as applied”

burden, which was “the burden created by enforcing the

postmark requirement in an election where thousands of

ballots . . . were rendered invalid by its application.” 2020

WL 4496849, at *16. The court found this burden “exceptionally

severe,” because a large number of ballots would be

invalidated. The court found that “in light of the ongoing

COVID-19 pandemic, there was an uncommonly compelling reason

for many voters to vote by absentee ballot.” Id. Because the

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burden on voters’ rights was severe, the court applied strict

scrutiny and concluded that the state statute was

unconstitutional as applied.

If strict scrutiny applies in the instant case, the

Government’s asserted interests are insufficient. The

Government offers no justification for its incomplete

rollback of its prior postal policies that concededly

produced a decline in mail service. As for the one retained

policy that restricts “lates and extras”, the Government

asserts that the Postal Service’s “operational choices . . .

reasonably relate to timely and efficiently delivering the

nation’s mail” and “continuing its regular operations”

(Opposition at 32, 36). That explanation is not enough. The

Bill of Rights was “designed to protect the fragile values of

a vulnerable citizenry from the overbearing concern for

efficiency and efficacy.” Stanley v. Illinois, 405 U.S. 645,

656 (1972). Thus, the Supreme Court has held that the

“vindication of conceded constitutional rights cannot be made

dependent upon any theory that it is less expensive to deny

than to afford them.” Watson v. City of Memphis, 373 U.S.

526, 537 (1963). Moreover, “[t]he possibility of future

increases in the cost of administering the election system is

not a sufficient basis here for infringing [Plaintiffs’]

First Amendment rights.” Tashjian, 479 U.S. at 218. And here,

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considering the Government’s justifications in context, with

respect to timeliness and efficiency, the Government does not

show why, after two years of planning, it increased urgency

around an initiative to encourage adherence to shipping

schedules in the middle of election season coinciding with a

pandemic. The Postal Service met or was near its service

standard goals for First-Class Mail in May, and despite dips

into performance levels in the 80s in April, service standards

had begun to enter the low 90s before DeJoy’s “transformative

initiative” rolled out. The most recent data in the record,

however, reflects an 88 percent standard, a significant

deviation from the USPS’s 96.5 percent target.

Of course, not every passing reference to voting rights

in a First Amendment claim will trigger strict scrutiny, which

is why the Anderson-Burdick test is useful; it accounts for

the severity of the burden upfront and adjusts the level of

scrutiny accordingly, so that “not every limitation or

incidental burden on the exercise of voting rights is subject

to a stringent standard of review.” Rogers v. Corbett, 468

F.3d 188, 194 (3d Cir. 2006) (quoting Bullock v. Carter, 405

U.S. 134, 143 (1972)). But even assuming, for the sake of

argument, that some lesser form of scrutiny applied here, the

Court finds that the Government has not met its burden of

demonstrating a sufficient interest in sustaining mail

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policies or operations that potentially curtail voting

rights. Intermediate scrutiny also demands some showing of

tailoring and necessity. As noted above, the Government

provides scant reason for the Court to find that the

challenged USPS actions could not wait until after the

November national election. Thus, it does not matter whether

the Postal Service’s actions are evaluated under strict

scrutiny or a more intermediate level of scrutiny; the result

is the same.

Because Plaintiffs have asserted a sufficient burden on

their right to vote, it is immaterial whether the restrictions

here are content-based or content-neutral. The Court notes,

however, that there is some ambiguity in that regard.

Plaintiffs initially seem to make the argument that the Postal

Service’s actions raise equal protection concerns because

sorting capacity was reduced more dramatically in swing

states and cities likely to vote Democratic. Defendants have

raised no authenticity concerns with the map included in the

Amended Complaint, which demonstrates where sorting capacity

was most reduced. But there are other plausible explanations.

It is possible that sorting capacity was most reduced in areas

with the most excess sorting capacity. Conceivably the

reduced capacity has no practical significance -- that is,

the reduced capacity will not actually affect the Postal

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Service’s ability to sort the mail in those demarcated areas.

But given that Plaintiffs have brought forward at least some

evidence to the contrary, there is simply not enough factual

basis in the record for the Court to make such a finding.

(See Barrios Decl. ¶ 6 (the removal of two sorting machines,

“the pandemic, and other policy changes” caused

“extraordinary mail backlog and delay”).)20 Cf. Crawford v.

Marion Cty. Election Bd., 553 U.S. 181, 189 (2008).

C. INJUNCTIVE RELIEF

For the reasons discussed above, the Court finds that

Plaintiffs have demonstrated a clear and substantial

likelihood of success on the merits. The parties disagree

whether Plaintiffs can show the other elements of injunctive

relief, particularly irreparable harm. “In the Second

Circuit, it is well-settled that an alleged constitutional

violation constitutes irreparable harm.” Gallagher, 2020 WL

4496849, at *14 (citing Conn. Dep’t of Envtl. Prot. v.

O.S.H.A., 356 F.3d 226, 231 (2d Cir. 2004)). Thus, “no

separate showing of irreparable harm is necessary.” Statharos

v. N.Y. City Taxi & Limousine Comm’n, 198 F.3d 317, 322 (2d

Cir. 1999). In any event, the Court finds that Plaintiffs

20While the Court does not suggest or make any specific finding that the
Postal Service intended to target certain areas, doing so would obviously
be enough to constitute a content-based burden on speech, even if the
Postal Service’s actions were facially neutral. Reed v. Town of Gilbert,
576 U.S. 155 (2015).

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have made a strong showing of irreparable harm and

demonstrated a clear and substantial likelihood of success on

the merits, for the reasons discussed above. The Court does

not construe Plaintiffs’ assertion that “the scale of

disenfranchisement . . . is unclear” as a concession but

rather an apt description of the lack of clarity surrounding

the Postal Service’s actions and how voters will respond to

the decline in service standards. (Motion at 7.) The test for

a preliminary injunction is satisfied.21

Consequently, the question becomes what the scope of

that relief should be. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65(d)

requires that “[e]very order granting an injunction . . .

must . . . state its terms specifically[] and describe in

reasonable detail -- and not by referring to the complaint or

other document -- the act or acts restrained or required.”

Defendants argue that some of Plaintiffs’ proposed relief is

insufficiently precise, including the proposed prohibition on

“[a]ny change in the nature of postal services which will

generally affect service on a nationwide or substantially

21As the Second Circuit has explained, district courts are permitted “to
enter nationwide injunctions.” New York v. United States Dep’t of
Homeland Sec., 969 F.3d at 88. The Court determines a nationwide
injunction is appropriate here because, given the nationwide scope of
Defendants’ conduct, to impose anything less would “risk running afoul of
the Constitution’s guarantee of equal treatment.” Gallagher, 2020 WL
4496849, at *23 (citing Bush, 531 U.S. at 109).

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nationwide basis.”22 (Notice of Motion.) Plaintiffs agree on

reply that the Court may narrow their requested relief as

appropriate. See Richmond Tenants Org. v. Kemp, 956 F.2d

1300, 1308 (4th Cir. 1992) (“It is well established . . .

that a federal district court has wide discretion to fashion

appropriate injunctive relief . . . .”).

While some of the requested elements of injunctive

relief are specific enough to pass muster under Rule 65(d),

other elements are too vague to be permissible. For example,

Plaintiffs request that the Court enjoin the enactment of any

rule, policy, or standard the purpose of which would delay

the delivery of mail to or from a government entity. But

government entities apart from state and local boards of

elections are outside the scope of this case. The Court will

therefore limit the scope of relief accordingly.

Finally, the Government argues -- in a footnote -- that

the Court lacks authority to enjoin the President in the

context of his official, non-ministerial duties. (Opposition

at 25 n.20.) The Government also argues that the same

principles that prevent federal courts from enjoining the

22 Plaintiffs counter that this language is borrowed directly from a

statute that already governs USPS services and so does not impose any
additional investigative burden. (Reply at 19-20 (quoting 39 U.S.C. §
3661(b)).) However, courts have generally held that a restrained party
does not have fair notice of what conduct will risk contempt if the
injunction merely enjoins a party to obey the law or comply with an
agreement. Hughey v. JMS Dev. Corp., 78 F.3d 1523, 1531 (11th Cir. 1996).

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President’s official acts also prevent them from entering

declaratory relief.

Generally, arguments raised only in a footnote need not

be considered. Weslowski v. Zugibe, 96 F. Supp. 3d 308, 314

(S.D.N.Y. 2015) (collecting cases). Nevertheless, the Court

agrees with the Government’s first proposition. See

Mississippi v. Johnson, 71 U.S. 475, 501 (1866) (“[T]his court

has no jurisdiction of a bill to enjoin the President in the

performance of his official duties . . . .”). While it is an

“open . . . question whether the President might be subject

to a judicial injunction requiring the performance of a purely

‘ministerial’ duty,” Franklin v. Massachusetts, 505 U.S. at

802, “the law is clear that the Court cannot issue such relief

to require performance of official duties that are not

ministerial.” Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in

Washington v. Trump, No. 19 Civ. 1333, 2020 WL 619959, at *9

(D.D.C. Feb. 10, 2020). Because the duties at issue here

appear entirely official and non-ministerial -- the running

of a major department of the Executive Branch –- the type of

broad injunctive relief Plaintiffs seek is unavailable as to

the President. Napolitano v. Flynn, 949 F.2d 617, 622 (2d

Cir. 1991) (actions are “ministerial” when “nothing is left

to discretion”).

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The Court has some doubts as to the accuracy of the

Government’s argument that the Court may not even enter

declaratory relief against the President. Indeed, the

Government cites two recent cases from this district

suggesting the contrary. See Pen American Center, Inc. v.

Trump, 448 F. Supp. 3d 309, 327-28 (S.D.N.Y. 2020); Knight

First Amendment Institute at Columbia Univ. v. Trump, 302 F.

Supp. 3d 541, 579 (S.D.N.Y. 2018), aff’d, 928 F.3d 226 (2d

Cir. 2019), reh’g en banc denied, 953 F.3d 216 (Mem.).

However, given that legal process is generally directed to

lower-level executive officials, Nixon v. Sirica, 487 F.2d

700, 709 (D.C. Cir. 1973) (en banc), the Court need not decide

the matter, because it finds that injunctive relief is

available against DeJoy and the Postal Service. See Knight

First Amendment Institute at Columbia Univ., 302 F. Supp. 3d

at 579. Therefore, the Court will deny the Motion insofar as

it seeks relief against the President.

Conclusion

“No right is more precious in a free country than that

of having a voice in the election of those who make the laws

under which, as good citizens, we must live.” Wesberry v.

Sanders, 376 U.S. at 17. It may be, as Defendants’ witness

stated, that the Postal Service is facing a “perfect storm”

of events causing delays in mail delivery. (Tr. 86:4.) The

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Court fully understands that the Postal Service’s operations

face an exceptional test during the impending national

election. But now, more than ever, the Postal Service’s status

as a symbol of national unity must be validated by the

demonstrated degree of its commitment to utmost effectiveness

of Election Mail service. And while the Court has no doubts

that the Postal Service’s workforce comprises hardworking and

dedicated public servants, multiple managerial failures have

undermined the postal employees’ ability to fulfill their

vital mission.

Accordingly, it is hereby

ORDERED that Plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary

injunction (Dkt. No. 19) is GRANTED IN PART. Plaintiffs are

directed to submit a proposed second amended complaint as

discussed above; and it is further

ORDERED that by not later than noon on September 25,

2020 the parties shall settle an Order providing Plaintiffs

appropriate relief consistent with this opinion and notify

the Court of such settlement. In the event the parties fail

to file such notice by that date the terms of the following

Order shall take effect without further action by this Court:

1. The United States Postal Service (“USPS”) shall, to the

extent that excess capacity permits, treat all Election

Mail as First-Class Mail or Priority Mail Express.

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a. For purposes of this Order, the term “Election

Mail” shall refer to any item mailed to or from

authorized election officials that enables citizens

to participate in the voting process, including

voter registration materials, absentee or mail-in

ballot applications, polling place notifications,

blank ballots, and completed ballots.

2. No later than September 25, 2020, USPS shall provide to

this Court and Plaintiffs a cost estimate for treating

all Election Mail as First-Class Mail beginning on

October 15, 2020.

3. USPS shall pre-approve all overtime that has been or

will be requested for the time period beginning October

26, 2020 and continuing through November 6, 2020.

4. No later than October 1, 2020, USPS shall submit to the

Court a list of steps necessary to restore First-Class

Mail and Marketing Mail on-time delivery scores to the

highest score each respective class of mail has received

in 2020, which are 93.88 percent for First-Class Mail

and 93.69 percent for Marketing Mail, and shall

thereafter make a good faith effort to fully implement

the listed steps.

5. No later than September 25, 2020, USPS shall submit to

the Court a list of all USPS recommended practices

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concerning of the treatment of Election Mail that are

not binding policies.

6. USPS shall provide this Court and Plaintiffs with a

weekly update that includes:

a. The same weekly update USPS is providing Congress;

and

b. Separate, unmerged 2-day and 3-5 day weekly service

reports and variance reports; and

c. A summary, not to exceed 10 pages in length, of any

and all data and information collected regarding

USPS’s handling of Election Mail and compliance

with the USPS policies regarding Election Mail,

USPS recommended practices regarding Election Mail,

and the terms of this Order specifically pertaining

to Election Mail.

7. No later than September 29, 2020, USPS shall submit to

the Court and Plaintiffs a proposed memorandum to all

USPS managerial staff (the “Guidance Memorandum”). The

proposed Guidance Memorandum shall in clear terms and

with the aid of examples:

a. Identify and explain all USPS policy requirements

concerning the treatment of Election Mail;

b. Identify and explain all USPS recommended practices

concerning the treatment of Election Mail;

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c. Clarify that late and extra trips are not banned,

do not require pre-approval, and will not result in

disciplinary action;

d. Clarify that late and extra trips that facilitate

the prompt delivery of Election Mail are

encouraged;

e. Explain that, pursuant to this Court’s Order, to

the extent excess capacity is available, Election

Mail shall be treated as First-Class Mail or

Priority Mail Express;

f. Explain that USPS has pre-approved all overtime

that has been or will be requested for the time

period beginning October 26, 2020 and continuing

through November 6, 2020;

g. Direct managers to explain to each of their direct

reports the policies and practices described in the

Guidance Memorandum that are relevant to each

direct report, taking into account their individual

responsibilities;

h. Provide contact information for persons available

to answer questions concerning the Guidance

Memorandum; and

i. Provide contact information for persons responsible

for tracking and responding to reports of

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violations of USPS policies and recommended

practices concerning the treatment of Election Mail

and direct personnel to contact this person in the

event of any such violation.

8. No later than October 1, 2020, Plaintiffs shall submit

any comments concerning the Guidance Memorandum to this

Court. Plaintiffs shall attach a copy of Defendants’

proposed Guidance Memorandum containing any of

Plaintiffs’ suggested edits in track changes.

9. Within 7 days of the date of an Order of this Court

approving the Guidance Memorandum, USPS shall certify to

this Court whether all USPS managerial staff members

have certified that they have read, reviewed, and

understand the Guidance Memorandum; to the extent any

managerial staff member has not yet certified that they

have read, reviewed, and understand the Guidance

Memorandum, USPS shall describe each attempt it has made

to contact the relevant managerial staff member.

SO ORDERED.

Dated: New York, New York

21 September 2020

___________________________
Victor Marrero
U.S.D.J.

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