U.S. Postal Service watchdog to probe service woes as worries rise about mail ballots
Category: News & Politics
Via: flynavy1 • 4 years ago • 148 commentsBy: Reuters Andy Sullivan, David Shepardson
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Postal Service’s internal watchdog is investigating cost cutting that has slowed delivery and alarmed lawmakers ahead of a presidential election when up to half of U.S. voters could cast ballots by mail, a congressional aide said on Friday.
The Postal Service’s inspector general also will examine possible conflicts of interest involving new Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who has donated $2.7 million to President Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans, according to Saloni Sharma, a spokeswoman for Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, who requested the investigation.
DeJoy owns millions of dollars in stock in Postal Service rivals and customers, according to a financial disclosure form filed by his wife.
The Inspector General’s Office is “conducting a body of work to address concerns raised,” spokeswoman Agapi Doulaveris said
The investigation comes as the Postal Service is warning states there is “significant risk” voters will not have enough time to complete and return their ballots. The Postal Service late on Friday released letters it had sent to 46 states and the District of Columbia, after the Washington Post reported earlier on the extent of the warnings.
The warning highlighted the possibility that a meaningful number of mail votes in the Nov. 3 presidential election might go uncounted if they are returned too late.
“State and local election officials must understand and take into account our operational standards and recommended timelines,” Postal Service spokeswoman Martha Johnson said.
Election officials are bracing for a deluge of mail ballots as many states have made it easier to vote by mail to address concerns about public gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic.
Republican President Donald Trump said Thursday that he opposes additional funding to make mail voting easier.
Trump, who is trailing Democratic rival Joe Biden in opinion polls, has said without evidence that widespread mail voting could lead to fraud. However, public records show he has requested mail ballots for himself and his wife Melania before Florida’s Tuesday primary election.
Evidence has shown that mail voting is as secure as any other method. Biden and other Democrats say Trump is trying to interfere with the election. Former Democratic President Barack Obama said he was worried that Trump was trying to “kneecap” the Postal Service.
The issue has taken on added urgency in recent weeks as cost-cutting measures put in place by DeJoy have led to widespread mail delays. The measures have included removal of letter collection boxes in some states.
Democratic congressional leaders and committee leaders sent a letter to Dejoy on Friday demanding an explanation for changes he is making at postal facilities.
Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, said on Friday that the changes could violate state laws against election tampering. She called for a criminal investigation.
In a statement Friday night, USPS spokesperson Rod Spurgeon said the service would stop the removal of mail collection boxes in 16 states and parts of two others until after the election, CNN reported.
TOO LITTLE TIME?
The Postal Service has warned some states that allowing voters to request ballots less than a week before the election does not leave enough time to print the ballot, mail it to the voter and have it returned.
Half of the states allow voters to request an absentee ballot within seven days of an election. The Postal Service recommends that mail ballots should be completed and sent in by that point.
Ohio, Michigan and several other states with tight deadlines have so far not pushed them back.
Pennsylvania’s secretary of state asked the state Supreme Court to allow ballots to be counted if they are received up to three days after the Nov. 3 election, rather than on Election Day.
The Postal Service’s top lawyer, Thomas Marshall, also encouraged election officials to use its first-class mail service to ensure prompt delivery, rather than the cheaper and slower bulk-mail rate.
Marshall told Congress in a letter released Friday “we have ample capacity to handle the increased volume of Election Mail that will occur because of the pandemic.”
In past elections the Postal Service has given priority to all political and election mail, no matter the postage rate, according to workers and the service’s internal watchdog.
“If this letter aims to backtrack on that collaboration or the promise of prioritization of election mail, that would be very concerning,” said Tracy Wimmer, a spokeswoman for the Michigan Department of State, which oversees elections.
Roughly 0.25% of mail ballots were rejected in 2016 because they arrived too late, according to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.
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So if I read this right......
This is criminal, has to stop.
See @6.2.1 below. Is it "criminal" or "legal"? Inquiring minds. . . .
If we do not decisively HELP get this guy legally out of office. . . we are going to rue the coming days! Some of us will die under this man's "leadership"—cursing as we go!
160,000+ of us have already died thanks to his absolute lack of leadership.
I have today's national Coronavirus deaths as ticking upwards of 170,178! This 'foolish' president does not seem to comprehend those could have been potential voters for his cause. Instead they are dying and taking his reputation with them into the grave!
The idiot also didn't understand that if he had handled the pandemic correctly, he could have walked to reelection. As it is, his absolute incompetence is hanging out there for all to see.
Trump has watched from a safe distance as Americans with Covid-19 crash and burn. Of course, this reality star never left a story-line and his supporters are compelled to follow the bright lights! (CB spits!)
Practically every other industrial nation has handled this better.
The US has .5% of the world's population, yet 25% of the world's deaths from Corona virus.
It's 5% not .5%. You're welcome.
Why bother to repost the very question you totally ignored/
Seems like a monumental waste of time since you didn't bother to answer it.
Thank you, did not realize I'd even hit that ".".
And why do you continuously post comments that have nothing to do with the conversations, and make claims you are unwilling/unable (or both) to support. Stay on topic or go away.
You dodged the question quite adeptly, must be all the practice you have gotten in lately.
practice from dealing with you?
That's probably it. You do seem to evade lots of my questions, and I do post a lot, so yeah, I can see how practicing avoiding my question just makes you do it more often.
Practice makes perfect, and someday you'll be able to avoid ALL questions just as adeptly!
I'll settle for Fauci, but more specifically he should have taken the advise from the CDC, and left the CDC in charge of a national response.
I just ordered some "new old stock" items to replace and match what we already have.
I was forced to use EBay and managed to ( Hopefully) get the last two existing sets.
In both cases, guaranteed delivery by FEDEX by 08/20/20 was $10 and change.
USPS delivery by 08/31 was $12.15 in one case, higher in the other.
It seems as if USPS is going to price itself out of the package delivery business,
yet when my guy comes, his little truck is jammed with USPS white boxes and Amazon Boxes..........
What are these ?
Discontinued parts. Still in the original packaging.
They removed hundreds of sorting machines and even removed mail boxes.
Where?
Montana...... for the post boxes, with the USPS admitting they were going to do this nation wide.
For the sorters....2x Wichita, Kansas.... 2x Springfield, Mo. 4x Kansas City, 3x Detroit, 2x Portland, Maine...
Easy stuff Greg if you really cared about the matter.....
Thanks for your research....
less mail volume perhaps?
671 sorters to be decommissioned at 38,000 pieces of mail an hour... so per day that equates with rounding to 612 million pieces of mail a day.
The US PS is currently (June2020 data) processing 472.1 million pieces of mail a day. That's 77% utilization. From an automation utilization standpoint, that is a very acceptable number which provides catch-up capacity and room for maintenance and downtime events.
So just how does one handle those 472.1 million pieces of mail a day without those machines Greg?
Then why weren't they pulled before Trump forced in a hand picked sycophant as the Post Master?
Because the previous "leader" didn't give a damn about wasted time and equipment with a lower volume of mail during the Covid? Yep, that's it. And the drop off mail boxes placed all over the place only take in an average of 25 pieces of mail per day and it is waste to take the time to empty them with that low number. Granted this is old, 2009 to be exact but............
As is the case now...............................
Volume is increasing with COVID from mail-in prescriptions and online ordering, you're trying to make up facts that aren't real.
Lawmakers: Postal changes delay mail-order medicine for vets
Lawmakers urge postmaster general to fix 'troubling' delays of veterans’ medication
Lawmakers demand USPS fix 'alarming' delays of veterans' mail-order prescriptions
VA prescriptions mailed by USPS have been delayed by 25% in 2020, department tells vets
And I am positive you believe this is something new? LOL
Par for the course.
Hard to argue with all the factual links he provided with his claim....
Which has absolutely nothing to do with this conversation. Just go away if you can't stay on topic.
Not according to Trump. Did he lie?
Has anyone noticed that the conservatives are the first to send US troops into battle but refuse to take care of them afterwards? (One of the many reasons I became a liberal, Democrats actually do more for our vets.)
According to what I just heard, our useless IG has backed down because he thinks this looks like a conflict of interests. No ahole you backed down because you have no desire to be fired and jailed. Interfering with the mail is a federal offense. But if this moron thinks he is off the hook, he is more delusional than Trump.
So you would not consider it a conflict of interest had he gone ahead and made cuts prior to the election?
That is a good sign!
Maybe there IS some hope.
Keep in mind, DeJoy is not running rogue - he is simply - willingly - following orders.
What gets me is donald even says he will not give them any extra funding and will not help them and it is all for his political gain.
And the republicans remain silent.
The IG will be fired in 3-2-1.
It certainly isn't an Administration that IGs appreciate.
There are hardly any IG's left to appreciate anything.
Might want to let all 73 Offices of Inspector Generals know.
You might want to wonder why Trump can't seem to fill these vacancies. Hell, he can't even fill some of the 'acting' positions.
Central Intelligence Agency
Christine Ruppert, Acting Deputy Inspector General & Counsel
Department of Defense
The Honorable Sean O’Donnell, Acting Inspector General
Department of Education
Sandra Bruce, Acting Inspector General
Department of Health and Human Services
Christi Grimm, Acting Inspector General
Department of Labor
Larry D. Turner, Acting Inspector General
Department of State
Diana R. Shaw, Acting Inspector General
Department of Transportation
Skip Elliott, Acting Inspector General
Export-Import Bank of the United States
Jennifer Fain, Acting Inspector General
Office of Personnel Management
Norbert Vint, Deputy Inspector General Performing the Duties of the Inspector General
Tennessee Valley Authority
Jill Matthews, Deputy Inspector General Performing the Duties of the Inspector General
U.S. International Trade Commission
Rhonda Turnbow, Acting Inspector General
So, in MY world(I call it Reality, perhaps you'd like to come for a visit one day) an acting IG IS an IG.
Maybe its different in your world.
You can call your world whatever you want but when it comes to Inspector Generals you don't get to change dimensions.
MINE is within the United States of America and here in MY world, we are a nation of laws.
5a U.S. Code § 3. Appointment of Inspector General
(a) There shall be at the head of each Office an Inspector General who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, without regard to political affiliation and solely on the basis of integrity and demonstrated ability in accounting, auditing, financial analysis, law, management analysis, public administration, or investigations.
Can you name the difference in job duties of an IG and an Acting IG?
Hmmm?
more (sigh*) worthless drivel.
Oh the irony!
Oh the truth!
As long as in your world, an acting IG IS an IG, you don't know the truth.
about the irony
Just go right ahead and list the job duties of an acting IG and an actual IG.
I am sure you will be able to show how significantly different they are, right?
Right?
See there Tex, even YOU admit that an 'acting' IG isn't the same as an ACTUAL IG.
Well done.
Yes, I am not so fucking obtuse as to think there is no difference, nor am I fucking obtuse enough to pretend there is a significant difference.
Carry on, however.
I've already cited the 'significant difference' Tex. Until the Congress gives their advice and consent, they're IGs in a'acting' name only. That isn't pretense, it's fact.
SOSDD
Color me shocked!
LMAO!
I have learned to expect it now.
That way, I am never disappointed when it happens over and over and over.
goose deflecting and projecting, as usual.
Trump will throw him under the bus for backing down.
We are becoming a Banana Republic.
Seems he's succeeding with that. Now he wants America to be like China, where NOBODY votes, so his presidency emulates Putin's, Kim's and Xi's (his heroes).
And then there is this (I heard about it on the 'boob tube' this Sunday AM!
The Alarming Scope of the President’s Emergency Powers
From seizing control of the internet to declaring martial law, President Trump may legally do all kinds of extraordinary things.
Who turns a megalomaniac loose in a world without bounds? Who does that? "With the stroke of a pen. . . ."
Not true at all.
There are bounds, if one chooses to look for them.
I'm surprised that Pompous Pompeo, on Trump's orders, hasn't yet deported all the Panda bears in American zoos as being a danger to America's "national security". Oooops! Maybe Trump reads these, so he's bound to sign an executive order to not only ban live Panda bears, but all toy Panda bears because if toddlers love them then they might get to love China as well, God forbid!!!
There is the executive order to ['sell off' (or return) all real panda bears and similar facsimile bears] consider! Think Tik-Tok! TAKE-OVER!!!!
With a stroke of the pen, the Constitution (and some slave states) declared slavery acceptable and hundreds of thousands of black people noncitizens and 3/5 citizens of these early colonies. There are bounds, if only . . . .
The clock is ticking for that POS. Tik tok tik tok tik tok tik tok....., and even if he bans Tik Tok, he can't stop the ticking towards his doomsday.
More tripe?
How did you put it @7.4.9: "Adios!"
Very, very good.
You managed to mimic my post.
If you intend on discussing me or some other creative incitement which is not conducive or instructive I will not respond. This is my last attempt at discussion with you today. Dig?
A discussion is two way.
What you seem to want is one way.
Keep it; I certainly don't need it.
Dig??
Unless Panda Express starts selling Big Macs, they may be gone also.
[DELETED]
YES!
I know exactly!!
Is it someone who pretends to not like memes?
LOL!
You're right, Texan, I was wrong. It's not true that he doesn't want ANYONE to vote, he only wants those who vote FOR him to vote.
Well, I guess you can try to change what you wrote, but here it is, and then here is my response:
You may commence, er, resume spinning now.
One of the big differences between me and the Trumpsters on this site is that I admit when I'm wrong, and correct what I said. It'll be a frosty day in Hell when Trumpsters, or Trump himself, will EVER admit making a mistake - it's always someone else's fault, right? I made no mistake when I went from tolerating Trump, in fact praising his support for Israel, to despising him as I do now for very good and very obvious reasons that I have posted a few times here already. But of course, the Trumpsters, who would consider it a privilege to kiss their golden-haired Emperor's ass to whom they kow-tow, would only follow his guidance and blame others. .
Nice spinning. How did you manage to change your mind entirely in just two posts?
Any idiot can see that I did not change my mind "entirely". I simply corrected a mistake.
so, what mistake are you now claiming?
Until now I've given you the credit of knowing how to read and understand plain English. Please don't make me change my mind:
"It's not true that he doesn't want ANYONE to vote, he only wants those who vote FOR him to vote."
For those who don't understand plain English....
I originally said Trump didn't want ANYONE to vote. That was my mistake, because obviously he wants those who would vote for him to vote.
UNDERSTAND NOW? BECAUSE ANY FURTHER BAITING WILL LEAD TO AN IMPASSE.
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This is a deliberate effort to undermine the postal service to stop mail-in voting. The president isn't even trying to hide it.
I would like to add this piece of information:
And to augment Perrie's list..... Contact your senators, and your representative in congress..... Scream loud. You may find that they are as hard of hearing as ours in Florida.
I emphasize!
Now is the appropriate time, if you want to do some good. People, Trump conservatives are COMING FOR YOUR RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES!!!!
The mailed ballot works well here in Colorado. We can mail it in if we choose, but I like to save the 64 cents postage and walk it over two blocks and drop it into the big locked metal box that is bolted to a concrete pad outside the recreation center. There are other drop off locations all over town. I am sure this system exists in most cities and towns of reasonable size. But it's far too late to design, print, and mail out a proper kind of ballot that the machines will accept for states that don't have them already.
Only idiots wait until the last hours of the last day to vote. Here again many cites and towns have machines or devices set up at select locations ahead of election day so the those smart people can vote early and practice safe spacing at the same time.
This issue is important because it is not the Republicans who have been caught on numerous occasions over the years for election day fraud and cheating. Remember the Al Franken controversy?
Seems Republicans aren't as innocent as you would have us believe.
You know that Trump has brought suit against states using drop boxes right Greg?
As far as I know, there is NO difference between 'absentee' and 'mail in' ballots. My mother votes absentee and I voted mail in for the first time in the Indiana primary. Our ballots were identical.
Did you mean for your comment to be hyperbole?
I don't know if you've been out and about of late but even with state 'mandates' there are a plethora of selfish fuckers that do not and will not wear masks OR social distance and who are at times abusive /violent about it. Very few states or municipalities have any consequence for violating 'mandates'. I doubt much will change by election day.
Wow, talk about a selective memory.
Timeline: North Carolina’s absentee ballot scandal
No. I remember that the vote was very close which triggered an automatic recount which Franken won. So what controversy are you talking about?
Here's my favorite example proving that your comment is clueless:
Indiana sec. of state convicted of voter fraud
Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White -- the man charged with upholding election integrity in Indiana -- was convicted of six felonies on Saturday, including three counts of voter fraud, two counts of perjury and one count of theft.
White, a Republican, could face up to three years in prison for each of the counts, the Indianapolis Star reports , and will be sentenced on February 23. The charges were based on accusations that White lied about where he lived while campaigning for secretary of state. The jury ruled he lied in order to keep receiving his salary from the Fishers Town Council even though he had moved out of his district.
Sorry Dulay, but I'm talking about the preponderance of evidence pointing to the Democrats. The record of fraudulent voting by Democrats is way longer than the one for Republicans.
All you ever have is deflection and projection.
Yet as everyone can see, you haven't cited ANY evidence.
But Greg, didn't YOU say this;
You implied that NO Republicans have been caught. Now that you KNOW better you still just can't seem to keep yourself from blathering MORE unsubstantiated claims.
preponderance of evidence pointing to the Democrats. The record of fraudulent voting by Democrats is way longer than the one for Republicans.
You talk about this all the time, but as usual, you provide no EVIDENCE to support your talking.....
PUT UP OR SHUT UP!
Then present it.
please link this preponderance of evidence that shows democrats commit more voting fraud than republicans. I've seen more cases in the news about republicans doing this than democrats (both alleged and convicted cases).
Obviously. But this is the same type of politics both parties employ in Congress to pursue partisan agendas.
Democrats have made an issue of mail-in voting to cover their backsides in the event that Biden loses; Democrats will be blaming voter fraud on postal mismanagement. The Postal Service is a ready made scapegoat. No doubt Democrats would be demanding the Postal Service be abolished in the event Biden loses. Trump will doubtless be charged with some sort of fraud should he retain the Presidency so Trump doesn't have anything to lose in this political fight.
The irony is that Democrats have been placed in the position of arguing for the importance of the Postal Service. Apparently mail-in voting can't be contracted out to FedEx, UPS, Amazon, or anyone else in the private sector. Only the Postal Service can handle mail-in voting so it's critically important to ensure the Postal Service can continue to function. Democrats are making the case that the Postal Service needs to be brought back as a Federal agency rather than some sort of quasi-private sector entity that competes for business.
what could possibly go wrong
Nothing.
I didn't realize that union workers had x-ray vision and could read inside sealed ballot envelopes.
I have never seen liberals in congress or liberal Postmaster General's try to make these kinds of changes before an election. This takes voter suppression to a whole new level.
More correctly, we've never heard of liberals in Congress making these type of changes. That doesn't mean it hasn't been done. BTW, there are elections every two years so anytime changes are made it will be before an election.
Liberals have used their elected seats to engage in a perpetual political campaign. Congressional politicians are campaigning all the time but only do work they were elected to do between vacations. In the case of expiring economic support measures to respond to the pandemic, liberals couldn't get the goodies they wanted so they took their ball and went home.
[deleted]
The House PASSED a bill in MAY. Just stop.
Full of truth? That's not a bad thing.
Whoopty doo. That's only half of the legislative process.
Yes Nerm, the liberal half. You cited 'liberals' multiple times, did you not?
Conservatives control the other half, the Senate, and THEY are the ones who have ignored the House bill on McConnell's desk and failed to pass one of their own before they went on vacation.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. If Democrats controlled the Senate they'd still be throwing tantrums about Republicans blocking legislation. We've seen Democrats toss sand to do this soft shoe before.
Democrats only use Republicans as an excuse for not keeping unrealistic promises.
What 'we' are seeing now is no matter HOW emergent action is, McConnell STILL insists that anything put on the floor has to be passed with a majority of Republican votes. He couldn't get his own caucus together so he walked away and left Trump's minions to 'negotiate'.
No matter how much you bloviate, NONE of that is the Democrat's fault.
Fixed...
What means this exactly?
Also, California is beloved by many because it tries. "We" vote like nobody's business in this West!
Actually, California doesn't place all that well in voter turnout.
"Turn-out" was not my meaning. In context of this specific discussion:
How else should one take this line?
"We" vote like nobody's business in this West!
In context of Perrie's comment. '"We" (mail-in voters) vote like nobody's business in the West!' (Further clarification: I vote every time there is an election-selection process. We are informed of it by mail.)
Note the quotes around, "we." They inform you that I am specifying some group or type.
And now I am not going to 'argue' over the intent of the statement any further.
Can no one ever ask you a simple question without you flying off the handle?
All the discussions I have seen have all been one way.
Let me tell you what I 'hear' from you: You perceive me as some "angry Back" stereotype? That is your problem. I don't perceive you as anything other than what you defend.
From my POV, I am simply not willing to waste precious time typing platitudes with you. If that is a problem, then ignore me, please. And vice-versa.
You need to clean your "ears" out then. I will assume you meant BLACK, which I have no problem with. If you have a problem with it, deal with it--don't visit your tales of woe on me.
My problem is you simply refuse to ever answer any questions, and then get on your high horse about "elevating" the conversation, which is nothing but pure Class A Bullshit.
You do whatever you choose to do and who to respond to, and I will do the same.
As far as questioning goes. Listen Texan', it is not my "assignment" here to make you comfortable with answers, per se. If the question matters to me, like you, I will decide to respond to it. If a question 'moves' (inspires) me to ask a different more pronounced question or set of questions, like anybody else, that is my prerogative too. I have no interest in your 'creature' comforts in this political climate liberals are vexed to occupy.
Perhaps, we have irreconcilable differences. And, yes, "Angry Black" is what I meant to convey. But, don't feel it needful or helpful to continue. I will take my "high horse" and move along without your assist.
Adios!
Perrie, there are state GoP groups sueing their states on Drop Boxes - PA, OH and I think MN and there may be more.
I have no problem with that - That is the way mail-in-voting should begin!
3. Google your supervisor of elections to see where you can drop off your mail-in ballot. Its usually NOT THE POLLING PLACE. All states allow this!
If you are talking about dropping it in "drop-boxes" I have only 2 questions:
Who collects them?
What could happen to them between being picked up and dropped off?
Nice. You question processes! You question the proverbial everything! Yet, you are sure Donald Trump is without and above questioning on his mail-in and absentee ballot opinions and attitudes?
(Questioning he who questions 'everything' - shall there be a forthcoming answer. Watch this space!)
I would like to see caravans from each CONUS state deliver the ballots in person. I would be willing to not get my mail for a week in order for the postal employees to deliver them.
Man, u talk about defending N E thing and EVERYTHING. As usual, WTF PEOPLE, TRUMP STATED IT CLEAR AS DAY!
So do you now DISAGREE WITH TRUMP ?
Well, it's about time ! R people truly this FCKN IGNORANT ?
somebody HELP THESE PEOPLE !
somebody HELP THESE PEOPLE !
Too late..... the ability to instill critical thinking skills happens early in life.
OMG..I feel like this is the hanging chad all over again.
The PO cannot guarantee any ballots will be delivered. Might want to send it certified with a signature.
If any one of us won the lottery, how many would trust the Post Office to deliver it for us, and how many would personally take it to the office?
Hundreds of thousand military veterans rely on the Post Office to deliver their ballots, as do millions of other Americans every election cycle as they have for decades. Only a piece of shit in the oval office who knows that the more people vote the less likely they are to win would try and sabotage our postal system just before an election. Those trying to dismiss or downplay the significance of this interference are no doubt complete total piece of shit fascists who don't deserve the democracy they falsely claim to support.
Sure is a lot of words there to just not answer my question.
All this about something that has been in place for a VERY LONG TIME.