Photographs of the gaffe circulating on community Facebook pages caused quite a stir with those involved in local political races. At first glance, it appeared that the federal laws prohibiting the distribution of anything into mailboxes that cannot be classified as mail had been deliberately broken by several local GOP campaigns. Per Sect. 508.3.1.3 of the Domestic Mail Manual, “No part of a mail receptacle may be used to deliver any matter not bearing postage, including items or matter placed upon, supported by, attached to, hung from, or inserted into a mail receptacle.” 

The stacked, compact nature of the neighborhood’s mailboxes confused the volunteers assigned to disperse the literature in the area. “We thought they were, like, some of those low-income housing complexes,” said one of the volunteers when reached out to by the SCVAPT for comment, “I’ve never seen one in real life before. I heard they were supposed to be small, so they can be cheap, you know? I really thought they were homes. I would never break a law!”

California Assembly candidate, Lucie Volotzky, and Chelsea Orzechowski, a spokesperson for Piotr Orzechowski, were quick to publicly comment on the apparent disregard for laws. “Please if you could give me an address where this has occurred I can send a volunteer to the area and immediately remove these flyers,” said Volotzky in a comment on the post appearing in the Santa Clarita Community Facebook page. 5 hours later, it was reported by a citizen that the flyers were still present on the mailboxes. Again, Volotzky was quick to comment, “I sent a different volunteer out there, but after they drove by they assured me that all flyers were posted only on residential doors. We’re deeply sorry for our confusion.”

Anna Clarita