Attorney General Letitia James REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
COURIER LIFE, AUG. 28-SEPT. 3, 2020 3
MESSAGE
Slope post office workers.
The changes at the postal
service, which have included
reductions in overtime
and the shutting off of
mail sorting machines, are
widely believed to be an attempt
by President Trump to
suppress mail-in voting during
the November general
election — a charge which
he has openly admitted to.
The Postmaster General
has since paused all proposed
changes until after the Nov.
3 election to avoid charges of
voter suppression, but insiders
at the American Postal
Workers Union say some of
the damage is already done.
“This is voter suppression,
there needs to be accountability,”
said protester
Cynthia Rothschild. “The
sorting machines must be
restored, DeJoy must be
kicked out and our congresspeople
must be challenged to
up their games.”
The shake-up at the post
office has led to delays in
mail, which can include essentials
such as medicine
— prompting a 10-year-old
diabetic Park Sloper to voice
his support of the mail service
at the Saturday afternoon
demonstration.
“Trump is clearly trying
to suppress voting by destroying
the post office and
stopping funds,” said Tabias,
who receives his Insulin
medication in the mail.
“America was built on the
principle of abolishing monarchies
and creating a just
republic with fair democracy,
Trump is the exact opposite.”
The postal service has
seen a newfound outpouring
of support from Americans
amid the pandemic and
as the attempted sidelining
has come to light, with supporters
ordering sheets of
stamps and other postal service
merchandise to support
the service.
“The pandemic has really
revealed for us things that
are essential that we maybe
had not seen as essential
before,” said Park Slope’s
Councilman Brad Lander.
“Getting things to our door,
we just didn’t think about
how essential that was before.”
Additional reporting by
Paul Frangipane
BY MARK HALLUM
Just a day after Postmaster
General Louis DeJoy
testifi ed before the House
Oversight Committee over
the crisis at the United
States Postal Service, state
Attorney General Letitia
James and New York City
took the Trump administration
to court, alleging that
recent mail dysfunctions
are a deliberate attempt at
voter suppression.
Since DeJoy was appointed
over 70 days ago, mail
drop-off boxes have been removed
across the country
and mail sorting machines
have been taken out of commission
across the country.
DeJoy testifi ed at Monday’s
hearing that these reforms
not be reversed ahead of the
presidential election in November
when an unprecedented
number of mail-in
ballots are expected to fl ood
USPS facilities.
James slammed the
USPS upheaval as “nothing
more than a voter suppression
tactic.”
“This time, these authoritarian
actions are not only
jeopardizing our democracy
and fundamental right
to vote but the immediate
health and fi nancial wellbeing
of Americans across
the nation,” James said. “We
will do everything in our
power to stop the president’s
power grab and ensure every
eligible voter has the
opportunity to cast a ballot
come November.”
At Monday’s hearing,
DeJoy denied any allegations
about attempts
to damage the democratic
process and placed blame
on middle managers for the
cutbacks in overtime.
DeJoy told congress
members, including Oversight
Committee Chair
Carolyn Maloney of Brooklyn,
that overtime and extra
trips for deliveries have
been cut, but would be reinstated
for up to two weeks
before Election Day. Despite
this concession, DeJoy was
not successful in convincing
Democratic committee
members that the scale-back
efforts were independent of
President Trump, who has
accused the mail-in voting
process of posing as an opportunity
for voter fraud.
The lawsuit, fi led in the
District of Columbia, includes
James, New York City,
and three other states as coplaintiffs
who are asking the
court to halt any changes to
USPS operations on grounds
that they violate statutory
and constitutional law.
“Americans have a right
to government institutions
that fulfi ll their missions
without any kind of bias,”
New York City Corporation
Counsel James Johnson
said in a statement. “For
decades, the U.S. Postal
Service operated in such a
manner. Until now. This is
the people’s Post Offi ce. The
mail should not ship faster
or slower based on one’s political
affi liation or the political
strategies of the occupant
of the White House.
Now, more than ever, New
Yorkers are relying on the
Post Offi ce to be true to its
motto and to deliver lifesaving
medicine and election
ballots. Lives and our democracy
may depend on it.”
Photo by Paul Frangipane
AG fi les suit against
Trump’s ‘authoritarian
actions’ on USPS
offi ce to oppose service cuts