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One of the most pressing issues of the upcoming election is the COVID-19 pandemic. While some countries are essentially back to normal, the US continues to struggle to contain the virus. This has led to speculation that Election Day might be a chaotic nightmare, with polling places closed in some areas and others likely to be overwhelmed. This, coupled with the number of people crowding together, means that a number of people are opting to mail in their ballots.
However, President Donald Trump has expressed outrage at the idea of people mailing in their votes. Despite mail-in voting being a safe and long-standing aspect of American democracy, Trump insists that it’s prone to fraud. The president has, thusly, been undermining the US Postal Service, according to Democrats. However, some now think Trump’s focus on defunding the USPS may have backfired.
Trump appointed wealthy GOP donor Louis DeJoy as postmaster general, in what Democrats allege was an attempt to kneecap the organization. DeJoy, a man with no postal experience, has set about a process of reducing the USPS’s activities in the name of “cutting costs”. DeJoy’s moves have cut many experts from their top roles. Moreover, they’ve caused a noticeable slowdown in delivery times, which can be crippling for people in remote areas.
Meanwhile, Trump himself is loudly championing an unfounded conspiracy theory. The president has claimed without any evidence that mail-in voting is prone to fraud. However, non-partisan research has shown this is patently untrue. Moreover, Trump’s claim that Republicans are disadvantaged by mail-in voting is also not borne out by the data.
In spite of the obvious damage these attacks are doing to the organization, Trump may be helping the USPS in the long run. The organization has been badly in need of attention for decades. While people generally like and trust the USPS, the organization infrequently receives adequate federal funding for its important mission.
The USPS is unique in the United States in that it is the only federal agency that is expected to compete with private businesses. Republican lawmakers for decades have made moves to undercut the USPS and demand it operate more like FedEx or UPS. However, as a government organization, the USPS should be benefitting from federal funding drawn from tax dollars.
Meanwhile, mail carriers themselves have soldiered on, Kind Bars on hand for snacks and good walking shoes strapped to their feet. As former postmaster general Bill Henderson once said, they “do the right thing. Deliver the mail.”
