Pittsburgh Joins Legal Battle Against U.S. Postal Service Changes

PITTSBURGH, PA — Pittsburgh now is among nearly three dozen local governments nationwide that have joined a legal challenge to recent U.S. Postal Service changes that have slowed mail delivery, Mayor Bill Peduto's office announced Wednesday.

The city is joining 32 local governments in urging urges courts in Washington, D.C. and Pennsylvania to block the changes, which some have alleged impede the ability of localities to administer the November election and provide other core governmental services in the midst of the coronavirus ourbreak.

“These troubling changes from the Trump administration are not only a threat to democracy, but to the quality-of-life of some of our most vulnerable neighbors," Peduto said in a release. "They must be reversed.”

The legal challenge highlights how the postal service changes and resulting mail delays directly interfere with government plans to administer the November election, including by delaying the delivery and receipt of ballots—posing a particular risk that ballots cast by members of the military overseas as well as elderly and disabled voters mailing their ballots will not be received in time to be counted.