The Postal Service is a lifeline to rural communities. While some Americans have had the opportunity to work from home during this pandemic, our letter carriers and postmasters do not. They're working tirelessly to ensure people in every corner of the country are getting their mail and packages, which for our at-risk population, has been especially critical.
As someone who has worked across the aisle to support the Postal Service, I was disappointed when it recently became a political weapon. We should not be politicizing the Postal Service and in turn, the thousands of hardworking employees that serve each of our districts.
We need to solve our election administration problems. Despite early warnings from the Postal Service, at least eighteen states still have ballot request and return policies that are incompatible with USPS delivery standards, which significantly increases the risk of ballots going uncounted and disenfranchising voters.
We saw hundreds of thousands of ballots during recent primaries across the country go uncounted. One estimate says nearly a half a million ballots were rejected - disproportionately disenfranchising minority and younger voters.
Despite early warnings from the Postal Service, unrealistic ballot request and return policies continue to be one of the biggest impediments to ensuring every vote is counted.
A recent poll found 59% of Americans still prefer to vote in person, yet Congress has yet to pass legislation to help states allow people to safely go to the polls.
I didn't support assistance for the Postal Service because I think the post office is trying to sabotage our elections. I supported assistance for the Postal Service because we're in the middle of a pandemic, they are vital to our society, and they need our help.
Congress still needs to vote on legislation to help our schools, small businesses, and the millions of people still out of work because of the pandemic.
