Post Office Funding to Support 2020 Mail in Voting
 

There is much discussion regarding US Post Office funding to support this falls mail in voting. This issue is a huge Red Herring as there is no way funding at this time could create a new system that would have any meaningful value at this late date. To create such a system a design is required. People would need to be hired and trained. That would take more time than is available. Let alone, design, prototype, tests, instructions, contracts, delivery, etc.
Anyone having any experience with US Government projects is well aware of these issues.

Tying US Postal funding (for 2020 voting improvements) to a Coronavirus relief bill makes no sense.

You are correct. I think the problem is that the dates some states used are not long enough. I think one state (might be NY) said you could request a ballot up to 4 days before the election. So on day 4 I put my request in the mail box early in the day. Picked up by PO and sorted on the night shift. On day 3 gets delivered to elections officials in the afternoon. Assuming they are not busy???? gets processed and goes out in day 2's mail and I get it on day 1. Now I have to vote and it will get back to them after the election date. Some states allow up to 2 days. At any rate for on 1 million dollars I will consult with them and suggest that they move the dates back a week or two so THEY and the PO has time to process. Maybe I should get a bonus of another million for savings all those billions.

However,

“It was the White House that intervened in March, nixing a bipartisan plan to provide $13 billion to the Postal Service. And administration officials have made it clear that they will not sign off on any financial support — either in the form of a loan or direct funding — unless the Postal Service agrees to rate increases, labor concessions and other changes that would shrink the agency’s footprint, potentially saving money and benefiting private competitors like FedEx and UPS.”

“Now, the fight over the future of the Postal Service has spilled onto the campaign trail, increasingly freighted by deeply held disagreements about labor rights, the role of government versus private enterprise in providing basic services, and voting access.”

Now, being used against voting.

Always been a battle, but never so malicious, mean spirited and frankly in American.

So, there was time, and now we have what was, in my opinion, always part of the plan....upset the election....have reasons, etc.

This from the spring

David Williams, a member of the USPS Board of Governors, told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee last March that he could “think of no way” that the task force’s central recommendation — rolling back the ability of postal unions to collectively bargain for compensation — would address the agency’s financial problems.

White House dusts off USPS reform plan to save $97B in 11 years | Federal News Network

“The administration released that proposal in June 2018 as part of a larger government reorganization plan, but received bipartisan pushback from Congress less than a week later.”

The Post Office could use the money for other reasons but not from money allocated to the pandemic crisis.
Covid-19 pandemic is the NEW excuse for "Mail in Voting", mail in voting has been pushed even before this virus existed.
Keep the system the way its been for centuries, physical attended voting...

Why ?

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gee whiz, I don't believe the old system will work in today's world. I mean if we don't flood the country with mail-in voting forms...How will the dead people, pets, illegals, folks on deathbeds - with others voting for them, etc etc VOTE? not fair to any of them....

Opinion | Why Vote-by-Mail Could be a Legal Nightmare in November - POLITICO
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Absentee voting has been successfully occurring since the Civil War, with an extremely small amount of any fraud ever found and the USPS delivers about 1.3 billion Christmas cards every year. With Covid being so rampant, it only makes sense that people not be forced to stand in line for hours and hours to vote. So where's the problem?

With mail in voting can we still vote early and often?

Your mixing up the issues. No one contests absentee voting where you have to request a ballot and then can mail it back. The problem is with random mailing of ballots to addresses where they think people may live. Going on that basis, our household could potentially vote for six different people along with our own. Terrible plan from the get-go.

I have a question, how do I post a new thread on this newsletter. Can somebody please explain simply how I post a new subject. I thank you in advance.

There's a lot of misinformation (and outright lies) going around these days and you've mentioned a couple of them. First of all, only registered voters get actual ballots, even in those few states where you don't have to request them first. Secondly, every state already has internal protocols to ensure that the ballot is coming from a registered voter, or it gets put off into its own pile and not counted. I think it would be a good idea if everyone were to do a lot of their own research, instead of depending on what anyone tells them, regardless of who that person, or persons, may be.

The PROBLEM is the definition of BOTH -

Absentee vote is ACTIVE - must request a ballot and prove who you are.

Universal Mail-in - PASSIVE. Potentially everyone legal age to vote can be mailed a ballot.

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I base my report on incorrect mail deliveries to our address in a smaller community. Who will double check that potential error which is magnified in larger communities. It’s wise to think outside the narrow box of nothing can go wrong. That is only one issue which doesn’t address ballot harvesting.

One legal vote per person is why. No errors for this critical election no matter who wins and it preserves the integrity of our system with the results immediately announced, not months/ years later. Anyone can request an Absentee ballot as a registered voter.

I agree that 4 days is too short a time. It should be changed to a week or more. But, I disagree with the idea (opening post on this thread) that it's too late now to add funding to get it done. Overtime, temporary workers, and other things are bound to help get the mail moving.

When votes come back into the election office to be counted they are checked to see if they are registered and their signature is checked against the signature when they registered. The fact is there are checks and balances when voting by mail.

Yes, it can be done, however let’s keep in mind....Postmaster General has been fired, replaced by a large donor....much of the operational team has been replaced,.....sorters are one important piece of machinery are being taken out of distribution centers, and up until a day or so ago, actual mailboxes removed from corners. That, in addition to postal employees being told to charge more for ballots.

All attempts to dissuade mail ballots, and cause chaos and confusion.

I do not profess to know all, but read that procedures have been changed that no longer require all mail to be physically delivered.

It is a mess and being used relative to November. Never thought this could happen in my country.

But, if the postal employees are allowed they want to get it done.

And who are these handwriting experts?

Golly, does that mean I can't fill out the ballot for my illegal pet anymore just because he died?
You do realize that the article you linked doesn't warn of any of the nightmare scenarios you present, right? In fact, even though it mentions the probability of vote-counting disputes, clerical errors, etc, it does state that "There’s no question that, for public health reasons, expanding vote-by-mail is a wise decision for states to be making right now." I guess you got the idea of "dead people, pets, illegals, folks on deathbeds" voting somewhere else... :rolleyes:

So tell us,
what was the reason before the pandemic came along for a push in universal mail-in voting?

The assumption is that "most or all persons cannot get up and put on a mask and go to a polling station just like they did before a mask was part of the equation. (A very low expectation)

But we do expect them to be able to go to the store and buy food and other stuff. We expect working people to go to work. I see people of all ages and physical conditions playing golf, walking etc.

If someone is truly in need of vote by mail , absentee ballots are available as usual. No change in the system is required. No extra money. We already have multiple voting dates to accommodate schedules.

Just for those that feel a need for an opportunity to vote. This is a schedule that gives every one in Florida a chance to be heard.

Sept. 19: Absentee ballots sent to overseas voters for the general election.

Sept. 24-Oct. 1: Absentee ballots are sent to domestic voters for the general election.

Oct. 5: Deadline to register to vote in the general election.

Oct. 19-Nov. 1: Early voting days for the general election.

Nov. 3: General election day. Absentee ballots must reach the supervisor of elections office, whether mailed in or delivered in person, by 7 p.m. on this day.

Postal voting began during the Civil War.

That's how it's been since 1861. The Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776. So "for centuries" - is just meaningless blather.

"but no states send ballots out to people who are not registered to vote."


That's the bottom line, case closed.

Don't think that is a decision that is made by someone in The Villages.

How do you know what the new States in the game are going to do? What address do they send the Ballot to? What happens if I moved and do not get the ballot? What happened to the ballot that was sent to me that I did not receive? What happens to the ballot that was sent to my dead parent?

Those are simple questions and have no real answers. There are plenty more. That is why the current system allows for more assurances of legitimacy and I can be sure my vote has a better chance to be counted. I am at the poll, God forgive show my ID, get a ballot and vote, watch it be processed, and take my sore 76 year old body home and be proud that I did my patriotic duty to vote. Never had a problem wondering whether my vote was counted, on time or in question.

A Nevada county mailed out 1.3 million ballots for its primary election but 1 in 5 were never delivered --Business Insider 08/15/20