Citing several postal workers and union leaders, the Post reported that parts of the country are experiencing at least a two-day delay in receiving mail, including express mail, as a result of new policies by the US Postal Service. .
The current order book is worsening to the point that workers fear they will not be able to locate all the voter ballots in time for them to be processed, the newspaper reported.
The new procedures for the USPS were presented in a memo earlier this month and are under the leadership of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a longtime Donald Trump supporter and fundraiser, who took over his role in June.
In a statement to CNN on Thursday, the USPS acknowledged some “temporary service impacts” from the recent changes, but questioned concerns that the cost-cutting and efficiency measures implemented by DeJoy will interfere with the timely delivery of votes for mail.
“However, to be clear, and despite any claims to the contrary, we are not slowing down electoral mail or any other mail. Instead, we continue to employ a robust and proven process to ensure proper handling of all electoral mail consistent with our standards, “said USPS spokesman David Partenheimer.
The new policies include reducing hours within the U.S. Postal Service, according to the memo obtained by CNN showing the talking points given to USPS managers across the country on July 10.
According to the memorandum, overtime, including late travel and additional travel for USPS workers, is no longer authorized or accepted. This is explained as a cost reduction measure that could save financially troubled USPS about $ 200 million.
“One aspect of these changes that can be difficult for employees is that, temporarily, we can see the mail left or the mail on the floor of the work room or on the docks … which is not typical,” reads in the note.
The memo says that any mail that is left will be informed with the “root causes” of the delays addressed the next day, with the intention that the volume of delayed mail will decrease over time, but the reality of that remains unclear. since the changes are new.
Partenheimer said in the statement that “such impacts will be monitored and temporary as the root causes of any problem will be addressed as necessary and corrected as appropriate.”
He went on to say that DeJoy is not subject to Trump’s influence and that the “notion that the Postmaster General makes decisions about the Postal Service by order of the President is totally out of place and out of place.”
“While USPS can finance its operating expenses without additional loans at this time, we are pleased to have reached an agreement on the material terms and conditions of a loan, should it be necessary,” said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in a statement. . .
“If funding doesn’t come, everything we do, including voting by mail, will be much more difficult,” Dimondstein told CNN.
CNN’s Mary Kay Mallonee, Ellie Kaufman and Gregory Wallace contributed to this report.
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