Millions of voters could be disenfranchised
Even as President Trump rails against wide-scale voting by mail, the post office is bracing for an unprecedented number of mail-in ballots as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
At the same time that the need for timely delivery of the mail is peaking, service has been curtailed amid cost-cutting and efficiency measures ordered by the DeJoy, the new postmaster general, who is a former supply-chain CEO and a financial supporter of Trump and other Republicans. He has implemented measures to eliminate overtime pay and hold mail over if distribution centers are running late.
“Politicizing these administrative processes is dangerous and undermines public confidence in our elections,” she said in a statement. “This volume of work is by no means unusual, and is an operation I am confident the U.S. Postal Service is sufficiently prepared to fulfill.”Meanwhile, the removal of Postal Service collection mailboxes triggered concerns and anger in Oregon and Montana. Boxes were also removed in Indiana.
“Some of the boxes scheduled to be removed from downtown Billings are nearly overflowing daily,” Quilliam wrote in a Facebook message.All three members of Montana’s congressional delegation — two of whom are Republican — raised concerns about the removal of mailboxes in letters sent to DeJoy. “During the current public health crisis it is more important than ever the USPS continue to provide prompt, dependable delivery service,” said Gianforte.Postal Service spokesman Ernie Swanson said the Oregon removals were due to declining mail volume and that duplicate mailboxes were taken from places that had more than one. The Postal Service said four mailboxes were removed in Portland this week.
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