The recent evidence shows an attempt by the USPS to interrupt the people’s right to vote. Let’s discuss United States Election 2020 and USPS sabotage efforts.
Introduction
As the election comes closer, and the decision has been made to proceed with the election despite the pandemic, people of America are now relying on voting by mail more than ever before. But the main concern for many relies on the United States Election 2020 and several sabotage efforts by USPS.
The voters of the United States can vote from home if they wish to do so, given the proper reasons. For that, the election agency sends out ballot papers to the voter’s address upon request.
The USPS is a nationwide postal service that delivers ballot papers to all the registered voters.
USPS is the most reliable mailing service across the United States, and it was also very affordable, enabling people of all socio-economic classes to utilize their service.
On May 7th, it was announced that Louis DeJoy would be appointed as the Postmaster General. The USPS Board of Governors made this decision. Louis DeJoy is a businessman and long-term fundraiser for the Republicans. Which takes us to the next point.
President Trump has been criticizing the voting by mail method, along with the decision to fund $25 million to the postal service and spend $3.5 billion to fund the election. Backed by the belief that in-person voting will earn him a higher number of votes, he is constantly pushing against the USPS and making obvious attempts to sabotage the election.
Although the data shows that only twelve cases of fraud were found among millions of mailed votes, President Trump has been accusing the USPS of voter fraud. Most recently, last Thursday, he claimed to Fox Business interviewer Maria Bartiromo that the mailed-in ballots were a vehicle for fraud
After Louis DeJoy was appointed as the Postmaster-General, he made some changes to USPS. And evidently, these changes were not exactly to serve the public interest but help the corporations.
What changes were made in the USPS?
USPS has been running on a deficit for a long time, and last year’s deficit alone was a surmounting amount of $8.8 billion. As of April, USPS reported a loss of $13 billion. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, it was struggling financially even despite working efficiently.
The USPS processes about 450 million letters every day. This proves Trump’s accusation wrong that USPS will not be able to handle additional millions of registered voters who will request for the mail-in-ballots due to the coronavirus pandemic.
So in an attempt to mitigate the financial deficit, Louis DeJoy the newly appointed postmaster-general made the following changes in the USPS.
All high-speed sorting machines were removed due to being obsolete.
The postal staff was no longer allowed to work over-time, they were instructed to leave the mails behind in the post office if the delivery trucks were delayed.
Additionally, a lot of workers were laid off due to some reasons.
The delivery cost was also increased temporarily.
How it hampers the election?
Long before DeJoy took over the office, the USPS had already begun reaching out to the election administration agencies and regional mail coordinators, consulting with them to send out the ballots. By the looks of their preparation, this year’s election will break all the records for handling mails.
But, due to the recent changes that DeJoy made in the USPS, the effect was not calculated at all. Complaints were coming from all over the country for late delivery. Such a delay in delivery could be catastrophic for the upcoming election in November. As we all know, the votes will not be counted if they do not reach the vote counting centers within the allocated time.
Why are the changes hampering?
The changes that were made to the USPS were an attempt to reduce the financial stress and deficits to allow continued operation. But what it did instead was inserting unusual power into a public service sector in the time of the election. Louis DeJoyis a major fundraiser for Trump’s victory election campaign who raised $1.2 million. He is a close supporter of President Trump.
This raises doubt about President Trump’s influence over the election through the USPS. The opposition party Democrats are calling for emergency funds to help the USPS be fully equipped for the election period. And President Trump was precisely criticizing this fund that was initially allocated for the postal service. According to him, the financial incompetency of the USPS strips them from the right to receive this additional fund of $25 billion.
Besides the direct effect on the USPS and voting process of the presidential election, the newly set changes and rules massively suppress millions of Americans’ voting rights. Upon seeing the effects of the changes, two lawsuits were filed last Tuesday. One was led by Washington state. The lawsuit was joined by other states like Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
Another lawsuit was brought up in Pennsylvania federal court. It was accompanied by California, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Delaware, Maine, and North Carolina. After facing a massive backlash for making sudden changes right before the election, the changes were halted until the end of the election 2020. After facing the threat of multiple lawsuits, DeJoy announced on the same day that the changes would be halted until after the presidential election in the coming November.
All the complaints and the lawmaker’s letters have been taken into consideration, and the Office of the Inspector General -USPS is running an investigation to ensure no fraudulent activity takes place during the time of the election, and also the feasibility of DeJoy as the postmaster general.
Despite the sudden tension around the mail-in-vote fiasco sparked by President Trump, Democrats have been requesting voters to vote by mail for months. It would be wise to stay at home and vote by mail during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Although the Republicans’ opinion completely differs from this, and they are worried that voting by mail will bring in fraudulent votes into the ballot box, and that they are less likely to win if more people vote.
But, we have to keep in mind that the number of affected people is increasing every day, and the United States is the country with the highest number of affected people, and every lawful citizen deserves to practice their right to vote.
Votes by mail will ensure the voters’ rights amidst this pandemic, so it is highly encouraged that the voters of America practice their rights as lawful citizens of the country. The selection of a president is an extremely important decision for a country and the people of the country. Each and every citizen participates in the decision through voting.
Conclusion
So far, we have been discussing United States Election 2020 and the Sabotage efforts by USPS. However, this largely depends on the voters whether the USPS will sabotage the election or not.
As the citizens are currently facing the mismanagement and array of wrong decisions that the current president is taking, it is only through voting that the citizens can influence and impact the significant decision of selecting the president of the country.
To continue to read series 2, You can click here- US Election 2020: Cracking the Sabotage efforts (TRUMP) – Part 2.
Eli is a Political Data Scientist with over thirty years of experience in Data Engineering, Analytics, and Digital Marketing. Eli uses his expertise to give the latest information and distinctive analysis on US Political News, US Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, and Racial Justice equipping readers with the inequivalent knowledge.