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If the conservatives on the Supreme Court decide to allow Donald Trump to intervene in voting by mail, the state should be prepared to go around him. The state can come up with ways to distribute and collect ballots without using the U.S. Postal Service.
Perhaps the simplest solution would be to mail ballots in plain envelopes so that USPS cannot attempt to screen them. The state is not required to tell USPS that an envelope contains a ballot, nor would citizens who return completed ballots in plain envelopes. The state would not be breaking any laws, despite the warnings in Trump’s executive order.
An executive order from the president cannot compel the state to do anything. It only applies to federal agencies.
Trump might try to punish states, but we have been there before and his threats should not deter our pursuit of a free and fair election.
Jim Richardson
Waialua
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