This is one more attack on the "regular" people by the Oligarchy - The Post Office is a public good, but is now operating as if it were a private entity. The current Post Office leadership has also discussed phasing out some rural service - potentially leaving very rural, remote populations without reliable public postal/parcel service. It's not like people in these areas can just go to the UPS Store. This article correctly notes that those left behind are among the most vulnerable - while some may be able to wait in line during the day for counter service, those most in need of the grace offered by a postmark date will be least likely to have the time/ability to actually get one.
America will sacrifice thousands of it soldiers and spend trillions of dollars bringing democracy to other countries, but won’t count your vote if you mailed your ballot 2 weeks early and the post office was a bit slow... Got it.
I found out totally by accident that the P.O. will hand stamp letters. Can’t remember what I was sending, but after an episode where it took 2 weeks to get a bill 5 miles to its destination and had numerous problems getting my phone (era of landlines only) reinstated having to make the calls from work, they said that it did indeed say that I did indeed mail the bill on time. So since then I have always asked if they could hand stamp anything with a due date, mainly because of a lack of trust. Fortunately our small town in Oregon does have a drop off right outside the Senior Center and Library so dropping off my ballot has never been a problem. Please let friends and neighbors know that hand stamping is an option for anything that is time sensitive.
Since it is an internal decision, public pressure is our best bet.
Congress can also pass legislation, but that is unlikely, as agencies make their own policies fairly independently. However, asking your elected officials to address how this impacts their constituents may have some impact.
The Trumpist USPS has found another hard to see hoop for citizens living in small towns and on rural routes to jump through for voting. Someone living in those situations now have to mailtheir ballots and tax returns and bill payments days or even a week earlier to make sure they are accepted ontime. That is a slimy way to reduce the efficiency and faith in service we all depend on.
And, of course, with budget cuts, you just don't know how long it will be before it actually gets postmarked. In many cases, it takes so long for some sort of mail that you need to reply to gets to you a week before you're supposed to send a reply. If you need to consult someone, like a lawyer or something, you won't make it in time. Likely won't even if you send the reply that day. Of course, the oligarchs think they will like this because they'll either get paid something early or will get to charge a late fee.
This is one more attack on the "regular" people by the Oligarchy - The Post Office is a public good, but is now operating as if it were a private entity. The current Post Office leadership has also discussed phasing out some rural service - potentially leaving very rural, remote populations without reliable public postal/parcel service. It's not like people in these areas can just go to the UPS Store. This article correctly notes that those left behind are among the most vulnerable - while some may be able to wait in line during the day for counter service, those most in need of the grace offered by a postmark date will be least likely to have the time/ability to actually get one.
America will sacrifice thousands of it soldiers and spend trillions of dollars bringing democracy to other countries, but won’t count your vote if you mailed your ballot 2 weeks early and the post office was a bit slow... Got it.
I found out totally by accident that the P.O. will hand stamp letters. Can’t remember what I was sending, but after an episode where it took 2 weeks to get a bill 5 miles to its destination and had numerous problems getting my phone (era of landlines only) reinstated having to make the calls from work, they said that it did indeed say that I did indeed mail the bill on time. So since then I have always asked if they could hand stamp anything with a due date, mainly because of a lack of trust. Fortunately our small town in Oregon does have a drop off right outside the Senior Center and Library so dropping off my ballot has never been a problem. Please let friends and neighbors know that hand stamping is an option for anything that is time sensitive.
So, how can we get the USPS to reverse its disastrous decisions?
Since it is an internal decision, public pressure is our best bet.
Congress can also pass legislation, but that is unlikely, as agencies make their own policies fairly independently. However, asking your elected officials to address how this impacts their constituents may have some impact.
The Trumpist USPS has found another hard to see hoop for citizens living in small towns and on rural routes to jump through for voting. Someone living in those situations now have to mailtheir ballots and tax returns and bill payments days or even a week earlier to make sure they are accepted ontime. That is a slimy way to reduce the efficiency and faith in service we all depend on.
And, of course, with budget cuts, you just don't know how long it will be before it actually gets postmarked. In many cases, it takes so long for some sort of mail that you need to reply to gets to you a week before you're supposed to send a reply. If you need to consult someone, like a lawyer or something, you won't make it in time. Likely won't even if you send the reply that day. Of course, the oligarchs think they will like this because they'll either get paid something early or will get to charge a late fee.