What’s going on with the Postal Service? Here’s the latest on funding, mail-in voting

After President Trump derided mail-in voting for months, claiming — without evidence — that the method of voting is ripe for fraud, the U.S. Postal Service has been embroiled in controversy surrounding its funding and ability to handle mail-in voting.

Democrats in Congress are pushing for increased funding for the service ahead of the November general election, something Trump has shown unwillingness to support, instead saying it “is going to be a great embarrassment to our country.

The agency, which doesn’t rely on tax dollars for operations, has sought out funding from Congress. But Trump said in an interview with Fox Business on Thursday that if he does indeed block funding, there won’t be universal mail-in voting.

“Now they need that money in order to make the post office work, so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots,” he said. “But if they don’t get those two items, that means you can’t have universal mail-in voting, because they’re not equipped to have it.”

Here’s what you need to know about funding for the Postal Service and mail-in voting ahead of the election.

Who funds the USPS?

The Postal Service doesn’t get tax money for operation expenses and “relies on the sale of postal, products, and services to fund its operations.”

Postal leaders have said the coronavirus pandemic is having a “devastating effect” on the service, The New York Times reported.

The agency could run out of money by late September without any financial backing from Congress, raising the possibility of bankruptcy, according to the publication.

Democrats have called for additional funding for the Postal Service under the second coronavirus relief package, The New York Times reported.

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How does this involve mail-in voting?

President Trump has blocked emergency funding for the Postal Service, which needs money for mail-in voting.

Trump said during a news briefing on Wednesday that he won’t approve $25 billion in emergency funds or $3.5 billion in supplemental election funds, The Washington Post reported.

“They don’t have the money to do the universal mail-in voting. So therefore, they can’t do it, I guess,” Trump said. “Are they going to do it even if they don’t have the money?”

Trump has considered executive actions to block mail-in voting and his campaign filed lawsuits in Pennsylvania, Minnesota, and Nevada over voting rules, Politico reported.

The Postal Service have removed or will remove 19 mail sorting machines at five facilities, Vice reported on Wednesday. Those machines would have sorted mail ballots.

Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden said the comments were “pure Trump” in a meeting on Thursday, NBC Philadelphia reported.

“Pure Trump. He doesn’t want an election,” Biden said.

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold called Trump’s remarks “voter suppression,” CBS Denver reported.

“The President stated that he’s withholding U.S. Postal Service funding to prevent vote by mail. This is voter suppression,” Griswold said. “It’s voter suppression to undermine the safest method to vote during a pandemic, and force Americans to risk their lives to vote.”

How has this been politicized?

In May, Democrats in the House passed legislation that would give $25 billion to the Postal Service over three years and have proposed another $3.5 billion in funding for election purposes, The Hill reported.

Democrats say they are pushing for more mail-in voting during the pandemic to give people a socially-distanced option to cast their ballots.

Trump has said mail-in voting would make the election “rigged” and “fraudulent,” while saying voting by mail is secure in Florida — a crucial swing state — because “we defeated Democrats’ attempts at change.” He also said the state has “a great Republican governor” while explaining his support for mail-in voting in Florida.

Studies have found that mail-in voting does not benefit one party more than the other, FiveThirtyEight reported.

An Axios/Ipsos poll found Democrats are more likely to be concerned about in-person voting as a risk for getting COVID-19.

Fifty-two percent of respondents said in-person voting was risky. Sixty-four percent of Democrats said it was risky compared to 29% of Republicans who said the same. The poll was conducted July 31-August 3 with a margin of error of 3 to 3.4 percentage points.

Another poll from Yahoo News/YouGov — with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.3 percentage points — found 55% of Trump supporters said they won’t view former Vice President Joe Biden’s win as legitimate if mail-in voting puts him over Trump.

There’s evidence of a large partisan gap over which method people intend to use to vote. Of those who said they would rather vote in person, Trump leads Biden 59% to 28% — while Biden leads Trump 70% to 14% among respondents who said they would prefer to vote through mail, according to the Yahoo News/YouGov poll.

A spokesperson for the Biden campaign accused Trump of “sabotaging a basic service that hundreds of millions of people rely upon, cutting a critical lifeline for rural economies and for delivery of medicines, because he wants to deprive Americans of their fundamental right to vote safely during the most catastrophic public health crisis in over 100 years.”

What does it mean for the November election?

Democrats have expressed concerns about the impact of mail delays on the election after newly appointed postmaster general and Republican donor Louis DeJoy implemented changes to operations, froze hiring, and reorganized executive ranks, according to The Washington Post. Democratic Reps. Peter A. DeFazio of Oregon and Alma Adams of North Carolina called for removing DeJoy.

Thousands of delayed letters in Maine resulted from the reorganization, which was introduced in July, Reuters reported. Delivery drivers have been directed to leave even if mail hasn’t been loaded, Scott Adams, president of American Postal Worker Union Local 458, told the publication.

Congressional Democrats also wrote to DeJoy in a letter, urging him not to make changes to how the agency handles election mail ahead of the presidential election.

“Many state deadlines allow voters to request absentee ballot applications and absentee ballots within a few days of Election Day, so it is vital that standard delivery times remain low and pricing remain consistent with past practices to which election officials and voters are accustomed,” they wrote.

Those concerned include Ronald Stroman, former deputy postmaster general of the United States Postal Service from 2011 to June of this year. He wrote in a court filing that the ballot deadline should be extended so mail-in votes “postmarked on or before Election Day are counted if they arrive in election offices ... at least one week after Election Day.”

All the major swing states in the 2020 election, aside from North Carolina, have laws stating that ballots arriving after election day can’t be counted, even if they were sent on time, The Washington Post reported.

“I believe it is highly likely that in the November General Election, the absentee ballots of at least tens of thousands of voters will arrive at election offices after Election Day and will not be counted unless the Ballot Receipt Deadline is extended,” he wrote.

DeJoy said the service will maintain mail-in voting standards and signaled confidence that it will be able to handle the November general election, Reuters reported.

“The Postal Service has ample capacity to deliver all election mail securely and on-time in accordance with our delivery standards, and we will do so,” he said.