US (SAVE THE POST OFFICE via AMERICANS FOR FINANCIAL REFORM) : A USPS change could decide future elections.

 

Friend,

One of the most basic promises in a democracy is that if you vote on time, your vote counts. Right now, that promise is at risk because of changes inside the Postal Service that are slowing down mail and delaying when ballots receive a postmark. With Trump’s obsession of attacking Vote by Mail and the Supreme Court weighing in on state voting law that could have national implications as well, it is more important than ever that USPS step up at this moment. A voter could do everything right, drop their ballot in a mailbox on or before Election Day, and still have it rejected. This is exactly the kind of breakdown that demands immediate action from the people responsible for overseeing the Postal Service. Demand the Postal Board of Governors to restore real-time postmarks and protect every vote. Demand Action Postmarks are not a technical detail. They are how election officials verify that a ballot was mailed on time. When postmarks are delayed by days, deadlines become murky and votes become vulnerable to rejection, challenge, and manipulation. Here’s two examples of what that means right now. In Snohomish County, Washington, the state's third-largest county, elections in February saw a record-high percentages of ballots rejected due to late postmarks. In fact, the problem started late last year when thousands of voters had their ballots thrown out due to late-postmarks in municipal elections, according to state election director Stuart Holmes. The Postal Service's changes in Oregon left Portland as the state's sole central sorting center. That means a ballot mailed by a voter in Medford has to travel approximately 280 miles north before receiving a postmark then is returned to the Medford elections office to be counted, even though the local town clerk's office is just a few miles away. The Postal Board of Governors has the authority to fix this. They oversee the Postmaster General and set the direction of the Postal Service. They can reverse the service slowdown and restore real-time postmarks to ensure election mail is handled with the urgency it requires. We have forced action before. Public pressure stopped harmful processing changes. It protected election mail in past cycles. It blocked attempts to dismantle USPS oversight. It can work again, but only if we act before more ballots are rejected. Demand the Postal Board of Governors act immediately to protect vote by mail now. Thank you for taking action to protect every vote. - Annie and the Save the Post Office Coalition Team. Support This Campaign

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