A Trump croney is throwing sand into the gears of the postal service:
The U.S. Postal Service is experiencing days-long backlogs of mail across the country after a top Trump donor running the agency put in place new procedures described as cost-cutting efforts, alarming postal workers who warn that the policies could undermine their ability to deliver ballots on time for the November election.
As President Trump ramps up his unfounded attacks on mail balloting as being susceptible to widespread fraud, postal employees and union officials say the changes implemented by Trump fundraiser-turned-postmaster general Louis DeJoy are contributing to a growing perception that mail delays are the result of a political effort to undermine absentee voting.
The backlog comes as the president, who is trailing presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in the polls, has escalated his efforts to cast doubt about the integrity of the November vote, which is expected to yield record numbers of mail ballots because of the coronavirus pandemic.
On Thursday, Trump floated the idea of delaying the Nov. 3 general election, a notion that was widely condemned by Democrats and Republicans alike. He has repeatedly gone after the Postal Service, recently suggesting that the agency cannot be trusted to deliver ballots.
DeJoy, a North Carolina logistics executive who donated more than $2 million to GOP political committees in the past four years, approved changes that took effect July 13 that the agency said were aimed at cutting costs for the debt-laden mail service. They included prohibiting overtime pay, shutting down sorting machines early and requiring letter carriers to leave mail behind when necessary to avoid extra trips or late delivery on routes.
Postal Service memos detail ‘difficult’ changes, including slower mail delivery
The new policies have resulted in at least a two-day delay in scattered parts of the country, even for express mail, according to multiple postal workers and union leaders. Letter carriers are manually sorting more mail, adding to the delivery time. Bins of mail ready for delivery are sitting in post offices because of scheduling and route changes. And without the ability to work overtime, workers say the logjam is worsening without an end in sight.
Tom Sullivan has been talkng about this and I just want to add my voice to his cri de guerre:,
WHEN YOU GET YOUR BALLOT IN THE MAIL FILL IT OUT IMMEDIATELY AND SEND IT IN!
In fact, if you can drop it off personally at the election office far in advance, do that instead. Trump and his henchmen are trying to sabotage the post office so the ballots are delayed and they can claim that the election was rigged.
I found this report to be quite informative on the subject of mail-in voting around the country:
All voters should check with their state and local election officials about mail-in voting deadlines. We found, however, that some states give far more time than others for ballots to be received, which chips away at the premise there’s a fixed deadline for all Americans who vote-by-mail.
In California, for example, election officials must accept mail-in ballots that arrive up to 17 days after Election Day, as long as they are postmarked by Nov. 3. That’s the result of a new law passed this year.
In North Carolina, ballots are accepted three days after Election Day, as long as they are postmarked by that day. In Georgia, Hawaii, Connecticut and many other states, there’s no extension: ballots must arrive by the time polls close on Nov. 3.
“The most common state deadline for election officials to receive absentee or mail ballots is on Election Day when the polls close,” the National Conference of State Legislatures says on its website. “Some states, however, accept and count a mailed ballot if it is received after Election Day but postmarked prior to the election.”
Deadlines for all 50 states are listed on the NCSL website here.
Amber McReynolds, a national expert on election administration and Denver’s former elections director, said the social media posts present a blanket warning that might be accurate for some states, but wrong for others.
Registered voters in seven states — California, Oregon, Washington, Utah, Colorado and Vermont, plus Washington D.C. — don’t have to request a mail-in ballot. They’ll automatically receive one in the mail several weeks ahead of the election, removing one hurdle and some time in the process, McReynolds noted.
Voters in these states, and the dozens of others where people can request a mail-in ballot, can also return them at a drop box at designated locations to avoid concerns about postal service delays.
In California, voters can also return their vote-by-mail ballots at any in-person voting location, said Sam Mahood, a spokesman for the state’s Secretary of State’s Office.
“To say Election Day is October 20th or it takes 14 days misses the mark,” added McReynolds, chief executive officer of the National Vote At Home Institute, which advocates for putting voters’ needs first. “It’s not taking into account all of these other factors.”
That’s not to say voters should wait until the last minute. Experts, including McReynolds, say people should make sure they are registered to vote, request a mail-in ballot as early as possible and return it well in advance of their state’s deadline.
One of the social media posts claims “tens of thousands” of ballots went uncounted in 2016. That is correct. In May, The Washington Post reported that of the roughly 33.2 million mail ballots received and tabulated during the 2016 general election, approximately 1 percent weren’t counted. That would amount to about 332,000 ballots. The reasons for rejection included the lack of a matching signature, problems with the return envelope and missing the deadline, the Post reported.
Response From Postal Service
While the suggestion that Oct. 20 is the real vote-by-mail deadline is off base in several states, there is some truth to what the social media posts are saying about recommendations from the U.S. Postal Service.
In an emailed statement, a spokesperson for the agency wrote: “We recommend that jurisdictions immediately communicate and advise voters to request ballots at the earliest point allowable but no later than 15 days prior to the election date.”
It went on to say: “The Postal Service recommends that domestic, non-military voters mail their ballots at least one week prior to their state’s due date to allow for timely receipt by election officials. The Postal Service also recommends that voters contact local election officials for information about deadlines.”