Warning: Slow Mail Delivery Will Hamper Mail-in Voting

Update: On October 5, 2022 U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan ruled that Postmaster General Louis DeJoy failed to seek the advice of the Postal Regulatory Commission, as was required, before making substantial changes that resulted in slowed delivery during the 2020 election.

The nine-seat USPS Board of Governors has the sole authority to remove the Postmaster General.  DeJoy was appointed by the board of governors, whose members are nominated by the president. Governors can be removed by the president but only “for cause.”

In August 2022 more than 80 public interest groups led by The Save The Post Office Coalition sent a letter to President Biden, calling on his administration to nominate Postal Board of Governors candidates who will hold DeJoy accountable for his “destructive leadership” and advocate for the expansion of USPS services.

There is a concerted effort by the Trump Administration to slow down mail delivery to harm mail-in voting. The USPS is being deprived of needed funds to operate. This is occurring in spite of voters seeking to avoid polling places due to COVID-19. To make matters worse, Ohio and likely other states are limiting ballot drop-off locations to one per county which allows voters to avoid the postal service.

The USPS has indicated to state election officials that it will depart from its long-standing practice of prioritizing election mail. This will delay delivery times by about one week each way. Previously, all election mail was treated as First Class. It will now be treated in the class known to many as junk mail.

President Donald Trump frankly acknowledged on August 13 that he’s starving the U.S. Postal Service of money in order to make it harder to process an expected surge of mail-in ballots, which he worries could cost him the election. Democrats have pushed for $10 billion for the Postal Service in talks with Republicans on the COVID-19 response bill.

In the August 13 interview on Fox Business Network, President Trump said “If we don’t make a deal, that means they don’t get the money. That means they can’t have universal mail-in voting; they just can’t have it.” It is a false claim that Democrats are seeking universal mail-in voting.

According to While House sources, President Trump has asked about possible executive actions he could take to curb mail-in voting — everything from directing the postal service to not deliver certain ballots to stopping local officials from counting them after Election Day.

Memos obtained by The Associated Press show that Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and other leadership have eliminated overtime and halted late delivery trips that are sometimes needed to ensure mail arrives on time. Additional records detail cuts to hours at post offices, including reductions on Saturdays and during lunch hours. In addition, mail sorting machines have been removed from facilities around the country without any official explanation or reason given. DeJoy, a longtime Republican fundraiser and Trump donor, was appointed in May 2020. He is the first postmaster general in nearly two decades who is not a career postal employee.

In addition, a well-funded Republican campaign seeks to undermine public confidence in mail-in voting. Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee have taken to the courts dozens of times as part of a $20 million effort to challenge voting rules including curbing mail-in voting.

“The president of the United States is sabotaging a basic service that hundreds of millions of people rely upon, cutting a critical lifeline for rural economies and for delivery of medicines, because he wants to deprive Americans of their fundamental right to vote safely during the most catastrophic public health crisis in over 100 years,” Biden spokesperson Andrew Bates said in a statement.

On August 11, President Trump and first lady Melania Trump requested mail-in ballots for Florida’s primary election, according to Palm Beach County records, despite the President’s frequent attacks on voting by mail.

It is imperative that voters not wait until the last minute to mail voter registration forms, send back their ballots, or use the mail for any other elected-related matter. Give yourself an extra week.