VOTE FORWARD et al v. DEJOY et al

Filing 16

MOTION for Preliminary Injunction by AMY BOLAN, AARON CARREL, COLORADO ORGANIZATION FOR LATINA OPPORTUNITY AND REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS, INDERBIR SINGH DATTA, DANTE FLORES-DEMARCHI, PAUL HUNTER, SEBASTIAN IMMONEN, KATHRYN MONTGOMERY, SEAN MORRISON, PADRES & JOVENES UNIDOS, LINDA ROBERSON, MARTHA THOMPSON, VOCES UNIDAS DE LAS MONTANAS, VOTE FORWARD, GARY YOUNG (Attachments: #1 Memorandum in Support, #2 Exhibit Index, #3 Exhibit USPS OIG Report (Aug. 2020), #4 Exhibit USPS, Postal Operations Manual (Excerpts), #5 Exhibit USPS OIG Report (May 2020), #6 Exhibit USPS, Mandatory Stand-Up Talk: All Employees, #7 Exhibit Leaked USPS Powerpoint, #8 Exhibit DeJoy Testimony - House Oversight Hearing (Aug. 24, 2020), #9 Exhibit DeJoy Testimony - Senate Hearing (Aug. 21, 2020), #10 Exhibit Statement of DeJoy - House Oversight Comm. (Aug. 24, 2020), #11 Declaration Professor Justin Grimmer, #12 Exhibit USPS, Congressional Briefing (Aug. 31, 2020), #13 Exhibit Chart of States Where Voters' Mail-In Ballots Are Impacted By Defendants' Delays, #14 Exhibit USPS Letter to Pa. (July 29, 2020), #15 Declaration Eitran D. Hersh, #16 Exhibit House Oversight Hearing on USPS Operations - Transcript (Aug. 24, 2020), #17 Exhibit Senate HSGAC Hearing on USPS Operations - Transcript (Aug. 21, 2020), #18 Declaration Aaron Carrel, #19 Declaration Martha Thompson, #20 Declaration Kathryn Montgomery, #21 Declaration Sebastian Immonen, #22 Declaration Amy Bolan, #23 Declaration Inderbir Singh Datta, #24 Declaration Scott J. Forman of Vote Forward, #25 Declaration Alex Sanchez of Voces Unidas De Las Montanas, #26 Text of Proposed Order)(Duraiswamy, Shankar)

EXHIBIT 19

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
VOTE FORWARD,
611 Pennsylvania Ave. SE #192
Washington, DC 20003;
AARON CARREL,
2 N Roby Rd.
Madison, WI 53726;

Civil Case No. 1:20-cv-02405-EGS

VOCES UNIDAS DE LAS MONTAÑAS,
1001 Grand Ave., Suite 107
Glenwood Springs, CO 81601;
COLORADO ORGANIZATION FOR
LATINA OPPORTUNITY AND
REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS,
P.O. Box 40991
Denver, CO 80204;
and
PADRES & JÓVENES UNIDOS,
4130 Tejon St., Suite C
Denver, CO 80211,
Plaintiffs,
v.
LOUIS DEJOY, in his official
capacity as the Postmaster General,
475 L’Enfant Plaza SW,
Washington, D.C. 20260-0546;
and
UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE,
475 L’Enfant Plaza SW
Washington, DC 20260-0546,
Defendants.

DECLARATION OF SEBASTIAN IMMONEN
I, Sebastian Immonen, declare as follows:
1.

I am a registered voter of Pennsylvania and have been registered since I turned

18. The matters set forth herein are true and correct of my own personal knowledge. If called as
a witness, I could and would testify competently thereto.
2.

I am currently an undergraduate student living in Rhode Island. My college has

started classes but has not yet opened the campus to the entire student body due to concerns with
COVID-19. The college opted to do a gradual opening and is letting students arrive on campus in
small groups.
3.

I have not requested by absentee ballot yet, but I understand I have until October

27 to submit my application. I am waiting to request my ballot until I have certainty about
whether I will be able to remain on campus in Rhode Island. The college may close if cases of
COVID-19 spike, which is a possibility as more and more students arrive gradually on campus.
For example, this recently occurred at UNC and the college had to close. I am worried it may
happen here too, so I don’t want to request my ballot until I have certainty about where I will be
living.
4.

I intend to vote by mail in the November 2020 general election and I intend to

vote close to election day because I do not know whether I will be in Rhode Island or
Pennsylvania at the end of October. Because I won’t be able to request my ballot until I have
certainty about where I will be living, this may also delay my ability to return a completed ballot
earlier.
5.

I voted by mail in this year’s primaries. I did not finalize my decision about who I

was voting for until close to election day, and then I became worried that my ballot was not
going to arrive in time to be counted. Then, the governor issued an emergency executive order
extending the deadline for receipt of mail-in ballots by a week due to the large surge in numbers

of people voting by mail. If the governor had not extended the deadline, there is a possibility my
ballot would not have been counted since I mailed it so close to the deadline.
6.

If my college closes and I have to return to Pennsylvania, I still intend to vote by

mail because I am afraid of putting my family members at risk of getting sick if I were to vote in
person. I live with my mother, sister, and brother, but my grandmother visits us often since we
are helping to care for her and my grandfather who is in the hospital. I understand the lines at
polling places may be long and I may have to be close to people, including people who may
refuse to wear masks. I am concerned that I would put my family’s health at risk if I were to vote
in person.
7.

In Pennsylvania, a completed ballot must be received by Election Day in order to

be counted. I fear that the delays caused by USPS will cause my ballot to not arrive on time and
therefore not be counted.

I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.
Executed on September 5, 2020, in Providence, Rhode Island.

Sebastian Immonen