The fight over the USPS

There’s growing concern over whether the U.S. Postal Service will be able to handle the mass move toward voting by mail this November because of the pandemic.

There’s growing concern over whether the U.S. Postal Service will be able to handle the mass move toward voting by mail this November because of the pandemic. Photo by Amy Ta.

The U.S. Postal Service told officials in nearly every state late last week that it couldn’t guarantee all November ballots would arrive in time to be counted. Reports say that sorting machines have been removed by the USPS, and postal hours have been cut. 

Speaker Nancy Pelosi has now called House lawmakers back to Washington this week for hearings on the growing crisis. The House could potentially pass legislation to address some of the USPS’ problems. But it’s unclear if the Senate would take up that legislation when it comes back in September.

From this Episode:

Credits

Host:

Madeleine Brand

Producers:

Sarah Sweeney, Michell Eloy, Amy Ta, Rosalie Atkinson, Brian Hardzinski, Angie Perrin