The United States Postal Service (USPS) is alerting several key states in the November presidential election that ballots mailed by voters may not arrive in time to be counted, according to documents it had. access NBC News, Telemundo's sister network.
The alarm, which takes as a context the budget and personnel deficit that this federal body is going through , generates a new level of uncertainty about voting by mail due to the coronavirus pandemic and the refusal of the president, Donald Trump, to provide the necessary funds to secure USPS operations.
Some 46 states, including some key to winning the election such as California, Florida, Michigan and Pennsylvania, received letters from USPS legal adviser Thomas Marshall warning that even if people follow all the election rules, delays Delivery by the Postal Service may cause your votes to be disqualified.
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"Certain deadlines relating to mail-in ballots, particularly with respect to new residents registering to vote shortly before Election Day, appear to be inconsistent with the delivery standards of the Postal Service," Thomas Marshall wrote to the Secretary of State of California, Alex Padilla.
"This mismatch creates a significant risk that some ballots will not be returned by mail in time to be counted under their laws, as we understand them," he added.
A Postal Service official delivers mail in Philadelphia.AP
Due to a lack of funds necessary to function properly, regular letters and packages are already experiencing delays of up to a week in some territories.
The situation is expected to worsen if tens of millions of Americans choose to vote this way due to the danger of doing so in person due to COVID-19.
In response to warnings from the Postal Service, some states have quickly moved the voting deadlines, forcing voters to request or cast their ballots earlier.
"Unintended consequences"
The CEO of USPS, Louis DeJoy, has acknowledged to his employees that there will be "unintended consequences" in the operation of the postal service, such as mail delivery times, which could affect its performance in the face of the elections.
In a memo distributed to officials and accessed by CNN, DeJoy explained that changes in office procedures "have led to unintended consequences" and "an increase in the delay of mail between processing facilities and processing units. delivery".
Trump Blocks Postal Service Funding As Part Of Battle Against Vote By Mail
Aug. 14, 202001: 54In some states, voting by mail will multiply up to 10 times , according to Amber McReynolds, one of the leading experts on vote by mail in the country, told Noticias Telemundo. DeJoy described the USPS financial situation as "dire" due to the decrease in mail volume due to the pandemic.
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Trump suggested this week that he is intentionally withholding money from the Postal Service to undermine its ability to process vote-by-mail in the 2020 presidential election.
The president has been attacking voting by mail for months as prone to fraud, even though there is no evidence that this is true. He himself voted in this mode in the primaries and he and the first lady, Melania Trump, have already requested their ballots to send them by mail in the election.
"They all depend on USPS"
Former President Barack Obama on Friday accused Trump of trying to damage voting by mail by sabotaging the Postal Service.
"Everyone depends on the USPS. Seniors to get their social security, veterans for their prescriptions, small businesses to keep their doors open. They cannot be the collateral damage of an Administration that is more concerned with suppressing the vote than suppressing the virus, "Obama wrote on the social network Twitter.
The USPS has said in congressional hearings in recent days that it could run out of funds as early as September, just two months before the vote. For this reason, the postal workers union launched a campaign asking citizens to ask their representatives in Congress to intercede for them.
As a temporary measure to gain funding, the USPS announced that it will increase prices for some domestic shipments.