Federal judge: Mailing misleading voter information constitutes irreparable harm to Colorado

A federal judge on Monday upheld his order that the U.S. Postal Service stop delivering flyers with what the state says is misleading information on voting in Colorado, even though the Postal Service says about 75% of those flyers already have been delivered.

Between about 1.8 and 2.4 million postcards were delivered to Colorado residents last week before U.S. District Court Judge William J. Martinez issued a temporary restraining order at 6:55 p.m. Saturday stopping the mailings, according to court filings Sunday and Monday.

Martinez on Monday refused the Postal Service’s request to lift the restraining order, in part because the order is still stopping more than 555,000 notices from being delivered.

“The imminent distribution of false and misleading voting information to over half a million Colorado households constitutes irreparable harm,” Martinez wrote in the decision.

The judge’s order to stop delivery of the flyers was prompted by a lawsuit filed by Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, who argued the mailers presented misleading information about voting in Colorado. The mailers say voters must request a mail-in ballot, but in Colorado, every registered voter receives a mail ballot and voters do not have to specifically request those ballots.

Read the full story via The Denver Post.