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appalachiablue

(41,047 posts)
Sat Aug 8, 2020, 11:38 PM Aug 2020

5-Alarm Fire: 2020 Election At Risk, Mass Mobilization To Save USPS From Sabotage, Vote Suppression

-'This Is a Five-Alarm Fire': With 2020 Election at Stake, Call Goes Up for Mass Mobilization to Save Postal Service.' "Can't stress this enough— if the USPS is sabotaged, this will amount to the greatest voter suppression campaign in history." By Jon Queally, staff writer, Common Dreams, Aug. 8, 2020.

In the wake of what was dubbed a "Friday Night Massacre" at the U.S. Postal Service—compounded by news that first-class postage rates, as opposed to cheaper bulk rates, would be charged for processing mail-in ballots in November—calls overnight and into Saturday have gone out for people across the U.S. to rise up in a coordinated fashion to end what many observers warn is a blatant effort by the Trump administration and the GOP to sabotage the federal mail delivery service ahead of this year's elections.



- A woman walks into a Brooklyn Post Office, Aug. 05, 2020, NYC. President Trump has called the Postal Service "a joke" as the agency is experiences delays in mail delivery due to the virus pandemic & financial pressures. - (Photo, Getty).


While Republicans in the Senate and the White House negotiating team have both refused to accept Democratic demands to include massive funding for election protections in the next round of Covid-19 relief as a way to have safe and accessible voting for all amid the pandemic, the latest news about what Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a longtime GOP donor and Trump supporter, has been doing since appointed earlier this summer is prompting outrage, accountability, and calls for immediate action.

- "This is how they destroy our democracy," warned progressive activist Ady Barkan while pointing to a report by The American Prospect's David Dayen which noted the looming postage hike on mail-in absentee ballots. *According to Dayen: The Postal Service has informed states that they'll need to pay first-class 55-cent postage to mail ballots to voters, rather than the normal 20-cent bulk rate. That nearly triples the per-ballot cost at a time when tens of millions more will be delivered. The rate change would have to go through the Postal Regulatory Commission and, undoubtedly, litigation. But the time frame for that is incredibly short, as ballots go out very soon. *A side benefit of this money grab is that states and cities may decide they don’t have the money to mail absentee ballots, and will make them harder to get. Which is exactly the worst-case scenario everyone fears.

The American Postal Workers Union (APWU), which represents over 220,000 mail carriers and retirees, on Saturday said it was necessary for all constituents worried about the attacks on the USPS or the integrity of mail-in voting this fall to immediately contact their representatives in the U.S. Senate:- 'Lawmakers from both parties want Postal Service to undo changes, reeling from mail delays and financial problems as record numbers of ballots are expected in the November presidential election.' Aug. 6, 2020, NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/lawmakers-both-parties-want-postal-service-undo-changes-are-slowing-n1236086

.."Grind the government to a fucking halt if we have to," declared liberal commentator Brian Tyler Cohen late Friday. "I can't stress this enough- if the USPS is sabotaged, this will amount to the greatest voter suppression campaign in history. The election will effectively become void... AND THAT IS WHAT TRUMP WANTS—THAT IS HIS POINT HERE."

More, https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/08/08/five-alarm-fire-2020-election-stake-call-goes-mass-mobilization-save-postal-service







- What Happens If The US Postal Service Goes Bankrupt? June 10, 2020. #USPS #Economy #Coronavirus

The COVID-19 pandemic has exploited the U.S. Postal Service’s underlying health conditions and its financial struggles. The nation’s most popular government agency is on life support and looking for an influx of cash from the government. But it seems the U.S. government doesn’t think the USPS is too big fail. So what happens if it does?
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pazzyanne

(6,518 posts)
3. For people living in very rural areas, the USPS is their life line.
Sun Aug 9, 2020, 05:19 AM
Aug 2020

Trips to get groceries is 40 miles round trip, and a trip to medical appointments is 89 miles round trip. The mail is delivered to my home every day but Sunday. It brings medication, legal and medical correspondence, packages, bills (ugh), cards and letters from family that I haven't seen for months, and a cheerful wave from the only person I have probably seen that day. There are hundreds of thousands of people like me who rely on the the USPS to provide necessities of life reliably. Sad that people who have never lived in rural areas can make life threatening changes for people like me. The changes being made are very short sighted in my opinion.

Squinch

(50,773 posts)
5. Make the trip to cast your vote. Explain to your neighbors what is happening and encourage
Sun Aug 9, 2020, 08:20 AM
Aug 2020

them to do the same.

If we get Joe in, this problem will be fixed for you in 5 months. If we don't, it will never be fixed, and that will be the least of our problems.

Squinch

(50,773 posts)
4. This is beyond any fire. It is a done deal. Even if we flood the USPS with money, Donny Bodybags
Sun Aug 9, 2020, 08:18 AM
Aug 2020

has installed his toadies at the top of the USPS and will misuse and pocket the money. No matter what we do, this will not be fixed by election day, and these criminals will make sure our votes do not get counted.

We will fix it once Joe is elected, but we have to get him there first.

We MUST vote in person or drop off our ballot at a designated drop-off location. We MUST not use the USPS.

We go grocery shopping. This is as important as that. Prepare now: get an N95 mask and a face shield. Get a hazmat suit if you are in one of the areas where the lines are long. Find out about early voting. If you are doing absentee, find the official drop-off locations, and find out when they are open.

Vote as early as you possibly can. We MUST make sure our votes get into the machines. There is still the possibility - likelihood? - that many of them will be destroyed or tampered with, but this is the best option open to us.

appalachiablue

(41,047 posts)
6. We MUST vote in person or drop off our ballot at a designated location. We MUST not use USPS
Sun Aug 9, 2020, 08:25 AM
Aug 2020

I'm trying my best to do drop off, in a real place, not just a box..

A poster here cautioned that camo-wearing goons in trucks will be 'circling ballot areas' I don't doubt. Still, on we go..

Also,

-> "This is how they destroy our democracy," warned progressive activist Ady Barkan while pointing to a report by The American Prospect's David Dayen which noted the looming postage hike on mail-in absentee ballots.

*According to Dayen: The Postal Service has informed states that they'll need to pay first-class 55-cent postage to mail ballots to voters, rather than the normal 20-cent bulk rate. That nearly triples the per-ballot cost at a time when tens of millions more will be delivered.

The rate change would have to go through the Postal Regulatory Commission and, undoubtedly, litigation. But the time frame for that is incredibly short, as ballots go out very soon. *A side benefit of this money grab is that states and cities may decide they don’t have the money to mail absentee ballots, and will make them harder to get. Which is exactly the worst-case scenario everyone fears.

KS Toronado

(16,900 posts)
8. No matter how much Democrats yell & scream & point fingers at unDejoy....
Sun Aug 9, 2020, 12:46 PM
Aug 2020

He is going to do everything he can to mess with mail in ballots, the very job trumpig sent him
into the USPS to do. With that in mind we should be telling voters to be making arrangements
to hand deliver their ballots to election offices and the sooner the better, no last minute stuff.
Should also encourage more drop off ballot boxes in secure well traveled locations to prevent
tampering.

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