Trump Wants to Create Election Chaos by Killing the Post Office [View all]

[Judi Lynn]

BY
Peter Montague, Truthout
PUBLISHED
June 20, 2020

President Trump and his Republican advisers appear to be laying the groundwork for presidential election chaos on November 3.

Part of the plan seems to be to allow the coronavirus-slammed U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to run out of money in September, throwing the mail service into crisis, possibly disenfranchising everyone who votes by mail.

The postal service is essential for U.S. elections. The U.S. military has depended on vote-by-mail since 1864. Five states now conduct elections entirely by mail — Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington and Utah. The other 45 states allow voting by absentee ballot by mail. Because of the coronavirus, many additional states and localities are currently considering universal vote-by-mail. Killing or weakening the U.S. Postal Service would essentially guarantee election chaos in November.

The postal service does not ordinarily receive taxpayer funds; it is the only government agency expected to fund itself, via sale of stamps and services such as money orders. Now, a combination of recent events has thrown USPS into financial turmoil. It started in 2006 when Congress required USPS to set aside cash sufficient to cover the cost of post-retirement health benefits, 75 years into the future, for its 600,000 employees. This unusual financial burden, combined with a 30 percent drop in the volume of mail after the coronavirus shut down the economy, put USPS into financial crisis. In April, the postal service estimated it will lose $22 billion in the next 18 months while it continues to deliver medicines, food, personal protective equipment (masks, gloves, test kits), and all kinds of household necessities to every address in the U.S., no matter how rural or remote, regardless of cost.

More:
https://truthout.org/articles/trump-wants-to-create-election-chaos-by-killing-the-post-office/