Postal Service Delays and Trying to Steal an Election
Democratic voters are indicating a priority for vote by mail due to Covid 19; Republican voters, heeding the President, have indicated a strong preference for in person voting. https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2020/08/13/election-2020-voters-are-highly-engaged-but-nearly-half-expect-to-have-difficulties-voting/
In California, your ballot counts if it is postmarked on or before Election Day; whereas in most other states, it must be received by election officials on or before Election Day or it does not count. https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/vopp-table-11-receipt-and-postmark-deadlines-for-absentee-ballots.aspx
So if the mail service is messed up, whether by intent or just by accident, it will disqualify a lot of mail-in ballots. That’s the game that Trump and Postmaster General Dejoy are playing. And yes, they are still playing it despite promises to discontinue their service delays. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/08/how-postal-service-preparing-election/615271/
Mail sorting machines are still being dismantled and removed. https://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/08/26/usps-mail-sorting-machines-dismantled-before-nov-3-general-election/3412642001/ and https://www.twincities.com/2020/08/26/20-mail-sorting-machines-in-mn-being-decommissioned-10-already-offline-says-lawsuit/ So far most mail is on time, but real delays for some postal customers are occurring due to the Postmaster General’s new orders. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/08/19/postal-problems-could-continue-despite-suspension-policies-blamed-mail-delays/ It only takes a little bit of delay to throw a close election given the rules in the many states requiring receipt of your ballot by the date of election.
We may be seeing efforts to rig a close election by the President of the United States and the Postmaster General. Is President Trump that far removed from Lukashenko, the President of Belarus or Putin, the President of Russia? One would hope so, but as yet he’s proved that he will stop at very little to attain and retain power.
We have already seen the tactics of voter suppression at work from Georgia to Wisconsin to Texas. It’s a combination of long lines, insufficient ballots, machines that don’t work, election workers who don’t show up due to Covid fears, changing polling places, new voter ID requirements. This is not accidental. Watch Suppressed https://www.bravenewfilms.org/suppressed We might see efforts to cut off the counting of ballots as occurred in Florida in 2000.
What should we do to counteract this new tactic of disempowering American voters, particularly Democratic voters? Some suggest voting very early where you are able to do so. Others suggest using the electoral drop boxes. Others suggest overwhelming turnout. Maybe all of the above.