“With voting season quickly approaching, the competition between Joe Biden and Donald Trump is fierce—but the question is how far will our two candidates go? Specifically President Trump who is known for his controversial past has many tricks under his sleeve, the most worrisome to voters is his administration's threat to defund the United States Postal Service.”
— Milo Trejo, 8th Grade
With voting season quickly approaching, the competition between Joe Biden and Donald Trump is fierce—but the question is how far will our two candidates go? Specifically President Trump who is known for his controversial past has many tricks under his sleeve, the most worrisome to voters is his administration's threat to defund the United States Postal Service.
The first thing one might wonder is why? Why would someone attempt to delay funding for a US government agency? And the answer is quite simple: To delay voting. Due to the ever growing cases of COVID-19 in the US many people plan on voting via mail. However, if the mail system is operating on less funding, those ballots will be sent out slower than ever, which could eventually lead to them ending in the bottom of your recycling can. Despite a fair amount of evidence and theories Trump has not come out and said that the attempt to defund the USPS is related to elections.
Regardless of what the President and his administration says, there are many angry voters that are not happy about this decision. In a short interview with CNN, David Becker stated,“Trump's attacks on USPS [will] hurt voters, including many of his own supporters who vote-by-mail.”
Trump is not the only person behind this childish attempt at defunding a US agency for personal gain. According to the New York Times, Louis Dejoy became the Postmaster General on June 15 and has made some questionable changes that people in general are not very happy about. In the past, Dejoy donated large sums of money toward President Trump's campaign, and now he is working with Trump to slow down the USPS just in time for the voting season. These changes include “ eliminating employee overtime, removing mall-sorting machines from postal facilities around the country, and reorganizing or eliminating Postal Service leadership.” Just to name a few.
Hopefully these sad attempts to stop people from voting, stay just that: Sad attempts, but until it’s time to vote, we can only wish. In the meantime, make sure you’re registered to vote.
The first thing one might wonder is why? Why would someone attempt to delay funding for a US government agency? And the answer is quite simple: To delay voting. Due to the ever growing cases of COVID-19 in the US many people plan on voting via mail. However, if the mail system is operating on less funding, those ballots will be sent out slower than ever, which could eventually lead to them ending in the bottom of your recycling can. Despite a fair amount of evidence and theories Trump has not come out and said that the attempt to defund the USPS is related to elections.
Regardless of what the President and his administration says, there are many angry voters that are not happy about this decision. In a short interview with CNN, David Becker stated,“Trump's attacks on USPS [will] hurt voters, including many of his own supporters who vote-by-mail.”
Trump is not the only person behind this childish attempt at defunding a US agency for personal gain. According to the New York Times, Louis Dejoy became the Postmaster General on June 15 and has made some questionable changes that people in general are not very happy about. In the past, Dejoy donated large sums of money toward President Trump's campaign, and now he is working with Trump to slow down the USPS just in time for the voting season. These changes include “ eliminating employee overtime, removing mall-sorting machines from postal facilities around the country, and reorganizing or eliminating Postal Service leadership.” Just to name a few.
Hopefully these sad attempts to stop people from voting, stay just that: Sad attempts, but until it’s time to vote, we can only wish. In the meantime, make sure you’re registered to vote.