Over the last few weeks, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a Republican mega-donor and Donald Trump appointee, has been working to sabotage voting by mail in the November 3 general election by slowing down the delivery of mail to a veritable crawl. Then on Friday, DeJoy announced two major blows to the Post Office’s ability to help us safely have free and fair elections in November:
First, DeJoy sacked the Post Office’s executive leadership in what is being called a Friday Night Massacre, paving the way for more Trump cronies to infiltrate this agency.
Second, DeJoy announced that ballots will need to be mailed at a first-class 55-cent postage, rather than the normal 20-cent bulk rate, nearly tripling the cost of voting by mail at a time when tens of millions more ballots than normal will be mailed out.
Although it appears that we don’t have any direct ability to affect DeJoy’s Friday Night Massacre, we can do something about his attempts to price-gouge states that are already reeling from the fiscal calamity brought about by the pandemic. All postal rate changes must be approved by the Postal Regulatory Commission, which still has some independence from Trump.
Today’s Action: Tell the Postal Regulatory Commission to stop DeJoy from rigging the election
Go to http://www.prc.gov/contact to submit a comment to the Postal Regulatory Commission.
Sample comment:
Hi, I have read that USPS Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is seeking to nearly triple the cost to states of mailing ballots for the November 3 general election. With the COVID-19 pandemic decimating state budgets and making it unsafe for Americans to wait in line to vote, I think that the USPS should be doing everything in its power to make it easier for Americans to exercise their right to vote, and not harder. I urge the Postal Regulatory Commission to reject the Postmaster General’s ballot rate change.
Thank you,
{NAME}
Bonus Action: Tell our Members of Congress to do everything they can to stop DeJoy from rigging the election
Contact your Representative:
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Rep. Pramila Jayapal: http://jayapal.house.gov/contact/
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Rep. Adam Smith: http://adamsmith.house.gov/contact
Contact both Senators:
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Sen. Maria Cantwell: http://www.cantwell.senate.gov/contact/email/form
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Sen. Patty Murray: http://www.murray.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contactme
Sample script:
Hi, my name is {NAME} and I live in {CITY, ZIP}. I have read that USPS Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has sacked the Post Office’s leadership and is seeking to nearly triple the cost to states of mailing ballots for the November 3 general election. With the COVID-19 pandemic decimating state budgets and making it unsafe for Americans to wait in line to vote, I think that the USPS should be doing everything in its power to make it easier for Americans to exercise their right to vote, and not harder. Please do everything in your power to prevent the USPS from installing more Trump cronies in positions where they can slow down the mail, and from adopting this rate change.
Thank you,
{NAME}
Background
“Unsanitized: Federal Benefit Extension Looks Remote as Anger Mounts. Plus, the post office tries to stick up states.” – http://prospect.org/coronavirus/unsanitized-federal-benefit-extension-anger-unemployment-evictions/
“USPS Policy: USPS Executive Leadership Advancing a Proposal to Raise Cost to States to Mail Ballots by 175%, from 20 to 55 cents Per Ballot” – http://library.thecapitolforum.com/docs/472hnf4jwkhq
“‘Friday Night Massacre’ at US Postal Service as Postmaster General—a Major Trump Donor—Ousts Top Officials” – http://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/08/07/friday-night-massacre-us-postal-service-postmaster-general-major-trump-donor-ousts
