Late, lethargic, & Lost Mail-In Ballots
Questions Surround Trump Appointed Postmaster General DeJoy
It has only been six days since Election Day and I am only now just beginning to think somewhat more clearly than I was a few days ago. My initial reaction to waking up Wednesday morning and seeing the results being put forth by the AP news organization was that I was dumbfounded.
My mind immediately went to some of the darker areas of society as I typed out my previous essay:
For me the simple fact of the matter is that right-wing conservative forces have been working for decades now to secure a conservative White House Administration; and from my perspective given all that I understand about how conservatives have operated in order to achieve their goals, objectives, and ultimate mission I have absolutely no doubts in my mind that Trump aligned entities all worked together to secure a win whether by hook or crook.
Conservatives have been actively engaged in illegal activities and unethical practices for decades now and I see no reason at all to think that this election was actually won in a legitimate, fair, untainted way by Republican voters.
So with these things in mind I am viewing the election as being tainted somehow;
Louis DeJoy as Postmaster General of the USPS is one of Trump’s special appointments and quite simply not to be trusted.
From the moment he was appointed Postmaster General, Louis DeJoy’s tenure at the USPS has been fraught with criticism. As a businessman with numerous conflicts of interests and a long-time Republican political operative with no experience in the public sector, DeJoy has taken his place among the ranks of awful Trump Administration appointees. As his time as Postmaster General reveals more instances of possible corruption, it has become clear he was the worst possible choice to lead the U.S. Postal Service.1
Mr. DeJoy’s immediate and sweeping changes to Post Office operations, including cuts to overtime, shortened Post Office hours and limiting delivery trips, all contributing to slowing down and delaying mail delivery. With 70% of Americans planning to vote by mail this November, these changes caught the attention of lawmakers almost immediately. U.S. Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.,) Gerald Connolly (D-Va.,) Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.,) and Brenda Lawrence (D-Mich.) wrote a letter to DeJoy with concerns that the changes he implemented would have “negative impacts on service standards and cause significant delays in mail delivery.”2
DeJoy’s efforts to sabotage mail delivery seem to be in the interests of his boss: Donald Trump. While Trump has consistently criticized mail-in voting, spewing outrageous and false claims about fraudulent ballots being sent through the mail, these allegations have been proven to be extremely rare. In 2016 and 2018, only .0025% of mail-in ballots in three vote-by-mail states were fraudulent, according to the Washington Post.3
The changes made by DeJoy have not been subtle, and look more like efforts to support his own personal, financial interests while doing Trump’s bidding. Without a completely independent Post Office, there may be no way to verify that the upcoming election will be free and fair – a sentiment those on all sides of the political spectrum seem to agree is essential for this November. Public Citizen has filed a lawsuit to suspend implementation of DeJoy’s changes ahead of the election, but Congress must act to protect the Post Office from political sabotage as well.4 [Emphasis added Rjrei]
As readers already should know by now Trump has demonized vote by mail more times than can be counted, that being said it seems to me that when someone like Trump seems to suddenly make a complete 180 degree turn on something as important as mail-in voting ballots, well let us just say ask the age old question about whether or not a leopard can change its spots, or whether what is truly crooked can ever actually be made truly straight etcetera.
Despite building a track record of opposing early and mail-in voting, former President Donald Trump’s campaign team has changed course with a new effort to promote and educate citizens on voting in ways other than just showing up to the polls on Election Day.
Swamp the Vote USA, created by Trump’s campaign and Trump Force 47, a grassroots program by the Republican National Committee, was launched on Tuesday.
Trump hopes to “swamp” Democrats by having more of his supporters vote either through absentee ballots or mail-in.
“If we swamp them with votes they can’t cheat,” the campaign said in a press release. “You need to make a plan, register, and vote any way possible. We have got to get your vote.”5
There has been a great deal of high level government attention being focused on postmaster General Louis DeJoy and how poorly he has been handling mail-in ballots; strangely enough or not the main stream media and legacy press outlets seem to have given DeJoy a free pass from any unpleasant attention.
Dear Postmaster DeJoy:
On behalf of state and local election officials in all 50 states, the District of Columbia,and the U.S. territories, we write to express our ongoing concerns about the United States Postal Service’s (USPS) performance as we approach the November 5, 2024 General Election. Over the course of the last year, election officials across the country have raised serious questions about processing facility operations, lost or delayed election mail, and front-line training deficiencies impacting USPS’s ability to deliver election mail in a timely and accurate manner. Despite repeated engagement with USPS Election and Political Mail headquarters staff and state/regional Managers of Customer Relations, we have not seen improvement or concerted efforts to remediate our concerns. In fact, many of the issues raised by election officials are echoed in the recent findings of the USPS Office of Inspector General Audit, Election Mail Readiness for the 2024 General Election.6 [Emphasis added Rjrei]
“Increase in Mail Returned as Undeliverable”
Election officials report mail sent to voters is being marked as undeliverable at higher than usual rates, even in cases where a voter is known not to have moved. This has affected a range of election mail, including informational mailers about critical election information and voter address confirmation cards, as well as ballots. In other cases, ballots sent to election offices are being returned to the voter with the election office address marked as undeliverable. This is happening nationwide despite mail piece design approval from USPS Mail Piece Design Analysts.7 [Emphasis added Rjrei]
As can be seen from one example of the many problems with Louis DeJoy’s management of the USPS and its mail-in voting ballots problems as found in the state of Kansas regarding its primary voting ballots during this past summer.
In fact, some ballots were delivered to the county election offices lacking proper postmarks. A post-election survey of Kansas’s 105 counties revealed that nearly 1,000 ballots were received – and are continuing to be received – in approximately half of the counties without a postmark or after the three-day grace period, making those ballots ineligible to be counted, despite being mailed before election day. A ballot without a postmark cannot be counted during the three-day grace period.
The Postal Service’s failure to deliver as promised has disenfranchised at approximately 1,000 voters in Kansas.
That means that 2 percent of ballots transmitted by mail in Kansas were not counted due to USPS administrative failures.8 [Emphasis added Rjrei]
Kansas Secretary of State Scott Shwab gets to the problem and then demands answers:
Further, the USPS website states: “The Postal Service’s policy is to postmark all ballots mailed by voters, whether they are prepaid by election officials or mailed with a stamp affixed by the voter.” Clearly, the Postal Service’s policy has not been followed in Kansas. In the August 6, 2024, Primary Election in Kansas, local post office clerks were purposely prohibited by a directive from USPS from assisting election officials and informed election offices they were unable to affix a postmark at a local post office even if the envelope was clearly shown to have been in USPS custody and delivered to the election office within the statutory deadlines.
In fact, in a July 30, 2024, audit report, the Office of the Inspector General, US Postal Service, reported: “Regarding postmarking, the audit team witnessed ballots missing a postmark, and as the Postal Service acknowledges, multiple states have laws requiring postmarks. An operational adjustment that allows for postmarking on ballots that erroneously did not receive one could help voters feel more confident that their ballot will receive a postmark.” We encourage the USPS to follow through with the corrective action it agreed to take in response to the audit.
On behalf of Kansas voters, I request that you provide an explanation of (1) how USPS will ensure that every ballot is postmarked in the November General Election so voters are not again disenfranchised, and (2) how the USPS will ensure that every ballot that is placed into its custody prior to Election Day will be delivered on time to county election offices for the votes to be counted.
State and county election officials are willing partners in ensuring the right to vote can be exercised by every Kansan. County election officials work closely with the USPS to verify that mail ballot envelope design conforms to USPS requirements. The USPS’s proper and timely handling of mail ballots is a key aspect to maintaining trust in our election system by assuring the public that utmost care is taken to preserve the safety and security of their ballot. Kansas has had mail voting in some form since the Civil War, but never has a lack of confidence in the delivery of our ballot been questioned as it has in the 21st Century.
It is unacceptable that your agency has disenfranchised Kansas voters. As the chief election official in Kansas, I urge you to provide Kansans a clear explanation for your failure to provide service that enables Kansans to exercise their constitutional right to vote, and to articulate what action USPS will take to ensure that every ballot entrusted to the USPS for the November election is properly postmarked and delivered on time.
Your prompt response to this time-sensitive matter is appreciated.9 (September 9, 2023) [Emphasis added Rjrei]
Less than two weeks later Secretary Shwab is already having to respond to DeJoy’s response to his first letter above and there is definitely no joy in this second letter:
Dear Postmaster DeJoy,
I am in receipt of a letter from the USPS dated September 13, 2024 (and attached), which purports to be responsive to the concerns my office has raised to you regarding the USPS’s failure to postmark election ballots and failure to deliver those ballots timely. Both actions disenfranchised Kansas voters during the state’s August primary election, and I am seeking your assurance this will not occur in the November 5 general election. To date, I am disappointed in the USPS’s response.10
Finally, while the USPS claims it will introduce “proven extraordinary measures” to enhance the delivery of mail in ballots, no explanation was provided about what these measures are and how these will address the concerns raised in our September 9 letter. (September 24, 2024)11
And last but not least, even Trump voters were surprised by the news reports of Trump winning.
Trump supporters were also far less confident than Harris supporters that there would be a clear winner of the election after all votes are counted — just 58% believed that would be the case, compared to 85% of Harris supporters.12 [Emphasis added Rjrei]
I am currently not accepting the election results, as I genuinely suspect that some type of data manipulation was involved with the mail-in aspect, especially in the light of Elon Musk’s involvement with the Trump campaign and his being the richest person in the world who is more than intelligent enough to find a way to compromise our country’s election system in some gray area like the United States postal Service given that Louis DeJoy is clearly and obviously a Trump cohort-lackey who would probably do anything within his capabilities to help Trump win the election illegally.
In the meantime I am looking into Charlie Kirk, Turning Point USA, United In Purpose, Donald Trump Jr. and their connections to Project 2025, most notably their associations with the Teneo network.
My next newsletter will be focused on how to deal with this moment in time and how to resist the MAGA corruption of the USA.
Thank you for reading,
Robert J Rei, November 10, 2024.
Guaranteed Delivery: DeJoy’s Post Office Corruption, Julia D'Eletto, Undated, retrieved November 10, 2024, Public Citizen, https://www.citizen.org/article/guaranteed-delivery-dejoys-post-office-corruption/
Ibidem
Ibidem
Ibidem
Trump does 180 on mail-in voting with plans to ‘swamp’ the vote, Elaine Mallon, June 4, 2024, The Washington Examiner [A Conservative Newspaper] https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/3028163/trump-180-mail-in-voting-swamp-the-vote/
Letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, from the National Association of Secreteries of State and the National Association of State Election Directors, September 11, 2024 (retrieved November 10, 2024), National Association of Secretaries of State, https://www.nass.org/sites/default/files/NASS%20Letters/9.11.24%20NASS_NASED%20Letter%20to%20US%20Postmaster%20DeJoy.pdf
Ibidem
Letter to Mr Louis DeJoy, from Kansas Secretary of State Scott Shwab, September 9, 2024, https://sos.ks.gov/media/letters/09-09-24-secretary-schwab-letter-to-postmaster-dejoy.pdf
Ibidem
Letter to Mr Louis DeJoy, from Kansas Secretary of State Scott Shwab, September 24, 2024, https://sos.ks.gov/media/letters/09-24-24-secretary-schwab-rebuttal-letter-to-usps.pdf
Ibidem
Nearly Half Of Trump Supporters Believe The Election Won't Be Run Well, Matt Shuham, October 25, 2024, Huff Post, https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/nearly-half-of-trump-supporters-believe-the-election-wont-be-run-well_uk_671b2e52e4b051419015f25a
In case you didn’t see my previous post, I summarize here. My wife and I were both approved for mail-in ballots. Mine arrived, hers was Returned Undeliverable, same address, both legal names on our mailbox. She went to Phila. City Hall with her documents and voted there, being told that many similar complaints were not caused by the election board, but by USPS. Local “Billy Penn Newsletter” investigated and published this article: <https://billypenn.com/2024/10/26/cure-mail-ballot-philadelphia-election/?mc_cid=62d21529b1>. The list of 174 pages of names of blocked voters is at the end of the article. To see more than the first page, click on the right arrow for the link (Pages 1-174) at the upper right corner of the list. You will see that most of the 4000 names are Latino, Muslim, African and/or female. I believe that my wife was targeted because she is a female with a Spanish name. This reaffirms your findings and others. Quote RBG, “La Lucha Segue” (The Fight Continues). - RD, Philly.
Thank you for bringing this to light. I have a hard time believing republicans act honestly given all the monkey business we have witnessed in the Bush administration and Trump administration, let alone voting. What a mess.