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Postmaster general reorganizes USPS ahead of November election
- fillskills 6y agoThis really scares the crap out of me. I dont know the potential number of people who will end up voting by mail, but given Covid, I assume that would be significant. Messing with that system will really screw Americas voice and essentially block democracy. What can we do to make sure that our government know that this is unacceptable
- m0zg 6y agoBut we've been told that mail-in voting is "completely safe and secure", have we not? And now it "scares the crap" out of you. How come?
- dmkolobov 6y agoBecause we're seeing the postmaster general, a major Trump donor, take steps that would potentially threaten the efficacy of mail in voting? And while I agree with the GP, it should also be noted that we've been saying "this is unacceptable" about a wide variety of things for the past 4 years, and it hasn't really had much effect, as far as reining in the crazy. It's a scary situation indeed.
- m0zg 6y agoIt's as if, I don't know, mail-in voting were ripe for fraud or something.
- MrRadar 6y agoThis is about interference with the delivery the ballots (both from the election officials to voters and to vice versa), not about the security of the ballots themselves.
- efnx 6y agoBut they’re not and never have been.
- dmkolobov 6y agoIf the past four years have taught us anything, is that just about every aspect of our government is ripe for fraud when the party in charge doesn't care about the well-being of the institutions they supposedly hold dear. It seems like you're trying to make the case that we should listen to the man telling us mail-in votes are fraudulent... because his administration is exhibiting signs of committing said fraud? For what its worth, we've been mail-in voting in Colorado for a while. Works great when the government isn't actively trying to undermine democracy.
- happytoexplain 6y agoVirtually everything is "ripe for fraud" if your definition includes "is theoretically assailable by the US president, directly or by appointee."
- GarrisonPrime 6y agoConsidering about 20% of mail-in ballots have already been disqualified for one reason or another, a drastic change could be exactly what's needed.
- eanzenberg 6y agoExactly. There is so much fraud related to mail-in ballots, mostly on the handling side, not the voting side. This needs to be safeguarded if we go down this route.
- efnx 6y agoSources?
- excalibur 6y agoTFA
- consultanturnot 6y agoI saw no mention of fraud, or mishandling of mail-in ballots, or absentee ballots. The crux of the short article was not on voting fraud but on the new Postmaster DeJoy's actions that are being investigated.
- eanzenberg 6y agoGoogle search away
- blhack 6y agoIf you're talking about the NY primary, it didn't have much to do with the mail, it was mostly people who were unfamiliar with the process and mixed up things like forgetting to sign it. Here's an atlantic article about it: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/07/new-york-election-failure-mail-in-voting/614446/ https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/07/new-yor... That said: I think New York is an example of why the debate about this is worth having. 20% of ballots getting tossed is catastrophic.
- djaque 6y agoI'm also terrified. I thought voting and literally the core of our democracy would be off limits to the current administration, but here we are. Our elections are being undermined to the best of the president's ability. The news over the past few months is honestly something more fit for a third world country on the verge of dictatorship, not the United States.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- somerandomboi 6y agoWhy would a businessman that has invested in companies that oppose the USPS be elected Postmaster?
- owyn 6y agoAppointed, not elected, and this was the plan. I just sort of hoped that there was a layer of bureaucracy at USPS that might be able to resist this kind of blatant sabotage, but I guess not..
- lettergram 6y agoI'd like to offer an alternative view... As Nancy Pelosi brings up the concern: "believe these changes, made during the middle of a once-in-a-century pandemic, now threaten the timely delivery of mail — including medicines for seniors, paychecks for workers, and absentee ballots for voters." ... I'm not 100% sure from this article what shifts took place. It's quite possible to handle the increased volume of mail (and lack of funds) these changes were necessary in an attempt to prioritize her concerns. Honestly, articles like this appear as propaganda to me. Take my opinion as you will -- neither party represents me, so I don't feel overly supportive of one side (perhaps making me more sensitive to said propaganda).
- efnx 6y agoI agree with your point - the article does not mention what shifts happened or how that affects USPS aside from what you can imply from Pelosi’s letter. But if you trust Pelosi‘s sentiment, which I do, then the article doesn’t seem like propaganda. Instead it looks to me as if you’ve given in to the other propaganda that you can’t trust either side and that they are both equally detrimental to US democracy - which is false. At this point the biggest threat to US democracy is Trump and the Republican party. Period. Vote him out and then convert the remaining anti-racist Republicans to Libertarian or vote them out. Republicans do not deserve to be in government. In my public opinion they have tarnished their reputation through DECADES of deceit, culminating in this wretched administration. There are two things they stand for now - racism and classism. Vote them out.
- lettergram 6y agoIMO, you can't just trust Pelosi's opinion: > But if you trust Pelosi‘s sentiment, which I do, then the article doesn’t seem like propaganda I tend not to trust any of my politicians on the onset, I need evidence. Without evidence, it's just political theater. Even the rest of your statements, are reiterating (in my opinion) propaganda. I've listened to a massive amount of republicans and democrats. It's a game, both are trying to rile up their base. Full thoughts here: https://austingwalters.com/on-committing-suicide/ https://austingwalters.com/on-committing-suicide/ (wrote that so I wouldn't have to explain every time).
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- blisterpeanuts 6y agoInteresting situation. Postmaster DeJoy is a Trump supporter, and one of his recent changes was to limit overtime, which worries Democrats. The Democrats want greater voter participation because they believe it will swing elections their way. The Republicans want mostly in-person voting by motivated citizens, in the hopes it will swing the vote their way. It's an unprecedented situation and no one seems to know what's going to happen.
- efnx 6y agoKeep in mind that having everybody well informed and voting is the main idea of democracy, which is what the democrats are trying to achieve and what the republicans are trying to hinder.
- blisterpeanuts 6y agoThen why do the Democrats oppose a presidential debate?
- efnx 6y agoSource please.
- ghthor 6y agoThe Democrats are not trying to keep anyone informed, they're trying to keep everyone indoctrinated.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- djaque 6y agoIt really is scary how open the current administration is about attacking the postal system before a historic mail in election. I sent my ballot application in the other day and it is already taking an extra two days compared to what I am used to. The intent is clear. That, plus the constant narrative about voter fraud (which apparently only happens in blue leaning states) and then the comment about delaying the election. He's setting himself up so that if he loses in November he can scream "they cheated" and try to override our democratic process. Voting is the core of democracy and it's crazy that it's coming under attack. Whatever the outcome of the election is, this November is going to be a scary time.
- mnm1 6y agoIt's interesting to see the election being manipulated right in front of the public's eyes and be unable to do anything about it. This post office bomb is only one part. We are being told by our representatives about their briefings from intelligence agencies on foreign attacks on our elections, yet are not allowed to know any details. The white house clearly supports both domestic interference and foreign. They are actively perpetrating the fraud domestically and passively doing nothing about foreigners. There are other players, like Facebook which intentionally allows conservative conspiracy theories to thrive. It's hard to imagine this year's elections will be fair with so much meddling allowed to happen. Will we have another election decided by the Supreme Court because ballots can't be counted quickly enough? Full me once shame on ...
- AnimalMuppet 6y agoFacebook is intentionally allowing conservative conspiracy theories to thrive? I think that at best, you are seeing only one half of the picture...