ST. LOUIS — The United States Postal Service is considered the most popular government entity, and it's established in the constitution as a "basic and fundamental service.”
While “neither snow nor rain” can stop the mail, the organization has dealt with financial issues for years. The new head of the USPS recently put in place cost-cutting procedures that actually slow down mail service, like canceling overtime for workers and calling for mail to be held another day if routes are running behind. That has a lot of people worried, especially in a year when so many rely on the mail for shopping, their business, their communication, and soon, their ballots.
“We are trying to do everything we can to ensure everyone can safely cast their vote,” said Don Crozier, who volunteers with the League of Women Voters on voting access. “We're seeing enough reports of issues with the postal service that it's got me concerned.”
The Postal Service maintains it's experienced "only minor operational impacts" due to the coronavirus, but for many, that's meant days of empty mailboxes.
USPS has said it does have the capacity to handle mail-in ballots, but the Postal Union has said that more funds would help ensure there are no delays.
Democrats have asked for $25 billion to help get USPS out of the hole, but President Trump admitted he's blocking that money to hinder mail-in-voting.
"Now, they need that money in order to make the Post Office work, so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots,” the President told Fox News. “If they don't get those two items, that means you can't have universal mail-in voting, because they're not equipped."
After push-back, Trump told reporters Thursday he'd pass a coronavirus spending plan that includes money for the post office.
"I would do it. If it was a separate thing I would do it."
So what do voters need to know?
Illinois ballots must be postmarked by Nov. 3, election day, and received by Nov. 17. (This means ballots received two weeks after election day will still be counted—one reason why the results of many races, including the presidential election, might not be called until long after polls close.)
In Missouri, mail ballots must be received by election day to count. That’s why the Vice President of the United States Postal Service sent Missouri’s Attorney General a letter urging him to have voters drop ballots in the mail no later than Oct. 27, giving ballots a full week to arrive and be counted.
“The post office is so fundamental to our democracy,” said Crozier. “We can't short-change it, we can't neglect it, it's so important that we keep it going.”
In the August primary, 550 of more than 8,000 absentee ballots received in St. Louis actually came in too late to be counted. Rick Stream, Republican Director of Elections, says this is even after employees went directly to the St. Ann and downtown post offices to pick up any ballots that were sitting there and would not have been valid—and were able to collect and count 1,000 ballots.