Time and time again President Trump has falsely claimed that the specter of mass voter fraud threatens our elections. In a recent interview Trump called mail-in voting a “new phenomena” and noted that his administration had multiple lawsuits going on to try to end it. It makes one curious just how far his administration has gone so far to undermine our elections. Transparency and accountability feel like a fever dream these days.
Dismantling the U.S. Postal Service
Louis DeJoy, an N.C. businessman, a major Republican donor, and the newly appointed Postmaster General, announced on August 7, 2020, a modified organizational structure for the U.S. Postal Service. Accordingly, “The new organization will align functions based on core business operations and will provide more clarity and focus on what the Postal Service does best; collect, process, move and deliver mail and packages.”
DeJoy quickly got to work to dismantle mail sorting machines and remove drop-off boxes in key swing states. How odd that those states in particular were targeted, what a weird coincidence, especially considering that the 2016 popular vote in Michigan was decided by roughly 10,000 votes. Dejoy’s election sabotage only needs to be partially effective on a small percentage of votes to effectively help Trump steal the presidency and commit treason in one fell swoop.
Two mail sorting machines had their electrical components removed on Tuesday in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the same day Postmaster General DeJoy claimed that such changes would be suspended until after the November presidential election. Two officials with the American Postal Workers Union claimed that at least a dozen high-capacity sorting machines have already been removed from Massachusetts as part of the new plan.
Four out of the fifteen high-speed sorting machines were removed from the Taft Road regional processing plant in North Syracuse, New York over the past month, without notice to the employees. Seven mail sorting machines were removed in Charlotte, North Carolina.
In Montgomery county Maryland, three USPS mail sorting machines have been removed. Nannette Corley, president of the Montgomery County American Postal Workers Union, said that workers have put in the information request to find out the locations of where “blue boxes” for mail drop-off have been removed. However, that information should not be a guessing game or subject to a request, it should be public knowledge, spread from the very mouth of those removing such tools. Similar questions have also been raised in Cleveland, Ohio.
Despite DeJoy’s recent statement regarding ensuring the security of election mail for the upcoming presidential election, USPS Headquarters’ email correspondence shows that there is no intention to reconnect or reinstall the machines that have been dismantled or removed so far.
U.S. Senator Gary Peters opened an investigation into postal service delays after Postmaster General DeJoy failed to provide answers earlier this month. Sen. Peters also sent a letter to his Congressional colleagues requesting any information they may have about postal service delays in their respective states.
Whether the goal is to suppress Democratic votes, delay the delivery and processing of ballots, merely to cast doubt on the integrity of our elections, or something else entirely, the effect remains the same. President Trump and his administration is actively trying to create a scenario that gives them some form of legitimacy to contest the results of the November election. Even writing that sentence feels wrong, as this is no longer simply political strategy, it is criminal conspiracy, and it has been for quite some time.
This certainly isn’t the first crisis we have had with our elections recently. Remember in 2017 when a Georgia election server was wiped after a lawsuit was filed against Georgia election officials? Or remember in 2016 when a group of computer scientists claimed to have evidence that results in three battleground states, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, might have been rigged against Clinton.
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy will testify on Friday before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and again before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform next Monday.
Early Voting is More Important Than Ever
Voting by paper ballot is the most secure way to vote. It is encouraged to early vote in person or take your absentee ballot in yourself. If you need to mail it in for whatever reason, make sure you request it as early as possible and get it in the mail as soon as possible. Don’t take any chances and wait until the last minute.
This exchange found on Reddit epitomizes the trend of U.S. politics over the past few years.
For so many of us, humor is our last line of defense against the absurdity that is the present political reality of the United States. In some ways such jokes ask the most piercing questions, “How did we let it get this bad?”, “Why hasn’t the so-called ‘other side’ done more to stop such abuses of power?”, “What power do we have?” Ultimately, those answers are relative.
The Political Historian 