Recent reports of sorting machines being taken offline, post office boxes being removed, bypass mail being on the chopping block and post office employees being prohibited from signing as a witness on ballots are alarming. These changes might have a legitimate business basis. Or they might be an attempt to kneecap the Postal Service and steal an election. Alaskans need to know that the U.S. Postal Service is being straight with us.
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy should open the books on why these changes were made. Are there business-related studies that provide a legitimate rationale for removing sorting machines and mail boxes? The USPS’ five-year plan recommends involving employees in designing new technologies and processes. Were the changes subject to employee input or public review?
Bypass mail is a vital lifeline to rural Alaska. We don’t have a network of roads to many of our communities. DeJoy needs to understand this.
Some people don’t have access to a witness for signing mail-in ballots. It costs nothing, and helps more people safely vote. Was there a legitimate business reason for prohibiting Postal Service employees from signing as witness on ballots?
This should be allowed.
We need to lower the temperature. If the US Postal Service levels with us, it will go a long way toward rebuilding trust. The postmaster general and our members of Congress need to give us the facts on the basis for these changes.
I ask you all to make your voices heard.
Robert Welton,
Douglas
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