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Two significant things happened on Aug. 21, 2020 — the Postmaster General Louis DeJoy testified before Congress and USPS launched a new election mail website.
DeJoy is in the hot seat about radical changes and delayed mail — people are angry. In an effort to appease the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, the USPS announced their new website. While the site is helpful for those interested in voting by mail, it does not reassure skeptics.
Congress Members Skeptical About Dejoy
Democrats and Republicans alike remain skeptical about Dejoy’s motives and to whom his loyalties lie. Is his motivation coddling Donald Trump’s whims or the citizens he was appointed to serve?
He tried to assure senators that he wasn’t taking orders from President Donald Trump.
Since he took the reigns at the USPS, delays in mail delivery, removal of collection boxes, and dismantling sorting machines have caused an uproar. Upending delivery services certainly fits the president’s agenda surrounding his inflated egomaniac desire to win the election at no cost — including causing disruption in the handling of mail-in ballots.
It makes sense to distrust another of the president’s appointments. Dejoy was confirmed by the USPS Board of Governors, many are Trump appointees. By majority, they are mega-donors supporting him and his election/reelection campaigns.
DeJoy and President Trump are linked by the former’s donations to the latter — $1.2 million. His overall contributions of $3.2 million to organizations such as the RNC, “National Republican Senatorial Committee, GOP political action committees, and individual candidates,” according to NPR.
USPS Ready to Handle Vote-By-Mail
Despite current delivery delays, DeJoy told the Senate the USPS was prepared to handle ballots from 50 states and Washington D.C. He claims the post office will treat the ballots as priority mail.
DeJoy started running the USPS in June and within 2.5 months his policies decreased the efficiency of the beloved agency. How does he expect to turn this around?
If there are slowdowns in either election offices or post offices, experts said, ballots may not get sent out in a timely manner or returned by postmark deadlines.
Election officials are advising voters not to rely on the mail. Instead, they recommend using a secure ballot drop-off box.
USPS Election Mail Website
In a bold effort to reassure America, the USPS launched a website offering vote-by-mail information. Moreover, the USPS Board of Governors created a bipartisan election mail committee as an oversight entity to “reinforce the strong commitment of the Postal Service to the mail as an important part of the nation’s democratic process.”
“The Postal Service recognizes that many states are choosing to expand mail-in voting options in the upcoming elections and that there will likely be a significant increase in demand among postal customers to participate in those elections by using the mail,” according to the USPS press release. To find answers “24/7 go to usps.com/votinginfo.”
Written by Cathy Milne-Ware
CNN: USPS debuts election information site and plans to send letters to ‘every American’ amid vote-by-mail furor; Marshall Cohen
CNN: 6 takeaways from the postmaster general’s Senate hearing; Jeremy Herb
The Washington Post: Postal Service will prioritize ballots over other mail, postmaster general testifies; Jacob Bogage, Elise Viebeck, Michael Brice-Saddler, and Michelle Ye Hee Lee
United States Postal Service: U.S. Postal Service Launches New Election Mail Website
Featured Image Courtesy of Steve Johnson’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Top Image by Brandon Spragins USAG Baden-Wuerttemberg Public Affairs for Harold Post’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
