CASE STUDIES IN EMERGENCY ELECTION LITIGATION

Federal Judicial Center 10/25/2023 1

Enjoining Misleading Postal Information 

About Absentee Ballots in Colorado 

Colorado v. DeJoy 

(William J. Martínez, D. Colo. 1:20-cv-2768) 

A federal district judge enjoined misleading mailings by the postal 

service about voting by mail in Colorado during a global infectious 

pandemic. 

Subject: Absentee and early voting. Topics: Absentee ballots; 

Covid-19; early voting. 

Colorado and its secretary of state filed a federal complaint in the District of 

Colorado on Saturday, September 12, 2020, against the U.S. Postal Service and 

three senior officials alleging that a notice that the postal service intended to 

send to Colorado voters included false statements about voting in Colorado.1

With their complaint, the plaintiffs filed a motion for a temporary restraining 

order.2

When the clerk’s office informed them about the case, Judge William J. 

Martínez and the law clerk assigned to the case were engaged in weekend family activities.3

 The judge and the law clerk dropped what they were doing and 

met at the courthouse.4 Because apparently false notices were being sent out as 

he was working on the case, Judge Martínez concluded that relief could not 

wait until Monday.5 In nearly ten years on the bench, this was approximately 

the second time that Judge Martínez had issued a temporary restraining order 

without a hearing.6

Judge Martínez granted the plaintiffs relief on the day that the complaint 

was filed, concluding that the notice provided patently false information jeopardizing Colorado’s constitutional right to manage its election.7

The Notice provides false or misleading information about the manner 

of Colorado’s elections by stating that voters should request their mail-in ballot (often called absentee ballot) at least 15 days before Election Day and mail 

their ballot at least 7 days before Election Day. In reality, [because ballots will 

1. Complaint, Colorado v. DeJoy, No. 1:20-cv-2768 (D. Colo. Sept. 12, 2020), D.E. 1; Colorado v. DeJoy, 487 F. Supp. 3d 1061, 1063 (D. Colo. 2020); see Luke Broadwater & Kenneth 

P. Vogel, Colorado Official Sues Postal Service, Saying Election Mailer Misleads Voters, N.Y. 

Times, Sept. 13, 2020, at A22. 

2. Temporary-Restraining-Order Motion, Colorado v. DeJoy, No. 1:20-cv-2768 (D. Colo. 

Sept. 12, 2020), D.E. 8; Colorado v. DeJoy, 487 F. Supp. 3d at 1064. 

3. Interview with Hon. William J. Martínez, Oct. 27, 2020. 

Tim Reagan interviewed Judge Martínez for this report by telephone. 

4. Id. 

5. Id. 

6. Id.; see Federal Judicial Center Biographical Directory of Article III Federal Judges, 

www.fjc.gov/history/judges (noting that Judge Martínez received his commission on December 21, 2010). 

7. Colorado v. DeJoy, 487 F. Supp. 3d at 1064–65; see Sam Tabachnik, Federal Judge Blocks 

USPS from Sending Mailers with Misleading Information, Denver Post, Sept. 13, 2020, at 2B. 
Enjoining Misleading Postal Information About Absentee Ballots in Colorado 

2 Federal Judicial Center 10/25/2023 

be mailed to all registered voters,] Colorado voters do not need to request a 

ballot at any time. Voters who receive a ballot do not need to mail the ballot 

back at least 7 days before the election; they may alternatively deposit that 

ballot at a drop-box or may choose to vote in person up to and including on 

election day.8

Judge Martínez set the temporary restraining order to expire at the end of 

the day on September 22, and he set the case for hearing on September 18.9

“Given that Plaintiffs also request an injunction in their prayer for relief in 

their Complaint, the Court will construe the Motion as seeking both a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction.”10

On Sunday, September 13, the defendants moved for immediate reconsideration: 

[T]he Postal Service, upon learning of Plaintiffs’ lawsuit, ceased its processing 

of the Colorado-bound postcards that had not yet been dispatched for delivery, but a particular set of over 200,000 postcards had already been partially 

processed for delivery. As to that set of postcards, the [temporary restraining 

order] will be extraordinarily difficult and perhaps impossible for Defendants 

to fully comply with at this juncture.11

Concluding that the plaintiffs objected to the defendants’ notice as early as 

September 10 and “[i]n the face of all this, Defendants steadfastly held to their 

previously-planned course of conduct and continued to mail the Notice to 

Colorado households,” Judge Martínez denied the defendants reconsideration 

on Monday, September 14.12

On the day before the scheduled hearing, the parties submitted a settlement agreement, which specified that Colorado and the postal service would 

cooperate on messaging about voting to Colorado voters.13

A September 15 docket-sheet order specified that the hearing would be 

held in Judge Martínez’s courtroom, which would be closed to the public because of social distancing made necessary by the global Covid-19 infectious 

pandemic.14 A telephone number was provided for the public to have audio 

access to the hearing.15

8. Colorado v. DeJoy, 487 F. Supp. 3d at 1064 (citations, quotation marks, and quotationalteration marks omitted). 

“[N]ine states and the District of Columbia are mailing absentee ballots to every registered 

voter, making it unnecessary for the voters to request one. In nine other states, election officials are mailing an absentee ballot request to every registered voter.” Broadwater & Vogel, 

supra note 1. 

9. Colorado v. DeJoy, 487 F. Supp. 3d at 1067–68. 

10. Id. at 1064. 

11. Reconsideration Motion, Colorado v. DeJoy, No. 1:20-cv-2768 (D. Colo. Sept. 13, 

2020), D.E. 12. 

12. Opinion, id. (Sept. 14, 2020), D.E. 21, 2020 WL 5513567; see Shelly Bradbury, Majority 

of Flyers Already Delivered, Denver Post, Sept. 15, 2020, at 1A. 

13. Settlement Agreement, Colorado, No. 1:20-cv-2768 (D. Colo. Sept. 17, 2020), D.E. 30-1. 

14. Docket Sheet, id. (Sept. 12, 2020) (D.E. 22). 

15. Id. 
Enjoining Misleading Postal Information About Absentee Ballots in Colorado 

Federal Judicial Center 10/25/2023 3

Following a twenty-five-minute discussion of the settlement agreement, 

the case was terminated on the plaintiffs’ voluntary dismissal.16

16. Id. (D.E. 32); Minutes, id. (Sept. 18, 2020), D.E. 31.