Postal Service needs help ensuring election integrity

It is becoming increasingly clear that people like the convenience of absentee voting. Nearly 80% of the ballots in Tuesday’s election were cast absentee. We had already been seeing an increase in absentee and early voting, but the pandemic forced the numbers to rise sharply. There is every reason to believe that in November, when more people will cast a ballot, we will see a record number of ballots cast absentee. That is why it is important that we can rely on the U.S. Postal Service to make sure those ballots are received and returned on time. There are troubling signs that may not be the case as we get closer to the November election. The new Postmaster General, Louis DeJoy, has made cuts to the agency, and ended overtime in an effort to solve a budget deficit. That means slower mail and could mean some ballots won’t be returned on time. The House passed legislation to shore up the agency to ensure the election goes smoothly as more and more people put their ballots in the mail. But the Senate hasn’t agreed, and President Trump has blocked emergency funding that would make sure the Postal Service has the resources to help administer the growing vote by mail voters. Of course, he has been against absentee balloting, and his new Postmaster General is a major donor to the Trump campaign who is making moves to further slow mail delivery as the election nears. Now, more than ever, we need the Postal Service to ensure the integrity of the upcoming election by processing ballots more quickly, not even slower.