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Records:
Mail
delivery
lags
behind
targets
as
election
nears
By
ANTHONY
IZAGUIRRE
and
PIA
DESHPANDE
apnews.com
The
slice of
Michigan
that
covers
Detroit,
its
suburbs
and
towns
dependent
on the
auto
industry
is
coveted
political
terrain
in one
of this
year’s
most
important
presidential
swing
states.
It also
has
another
distinction
as home
to one
of the
worst-performing
U.S.
Postal
Service
districts
in the
country.
In
Michigan
and
beyond,
states
are
seeing
record-breaking
interest
in
mail-in
voting
during
the
coronavirus
pandemic.
But
controversial
changes
at the
Postal
Service
have
compounded
long-standing
delivery
delays
nationwide
and
sparked
concerns
among
election
officials
and
voters
alike
over the
agency’s
ability
to
deliver
this
fall.
Data
obtained
by The
Associated
Press
shows
postal
districts
across
the
country
are
missing
by wide
margins
the
agency’s
own
goals
for
on-time
delivery,
raising
the
possibility
that
scores
of
mailed
ballots
could
miss
deadlines
for
reaching
local
election
offices
if
voters
wait too
long.
Missing
a
deadline
is a key
reason
mail-in
ballots
get
rejected.
Several
postal
districts
serving
urban
regions
in
battleground
states
have a
history
of
delivering
mail at
below
the
national
targets
and saw
sharp
drop-offs
in
performance
over the
summer.
The
message
to
voters
is
clear:
Mail
those
ballots
early.
“As
soon as
possible,”
said
Michigan
Secretary
of State
Jocelyn
Benson,
a
Democrat.
The
Postal
Service,
long an
afterthought
in the
political
process,
has been
drawn
into the
fray
after
its new
leader,
Postmaster
General
Louis
DeJoy,
implemented
a series
of
cost-cutting
measures
that
delayed
deliveries
nationwide.
The
changes
have
sparked
a flurry
of legal
challenges
and
caused
concerns
over the
agency’s
ability
to
handle
the
anticipated
crush of
election
mail
this
year,
although
DeJoy
has said
it will
be the
Postal
Service’s
top
priority.
DeJoy, a
GOP
megadonor
with no
previous
experience
at the
Postal
Service,
postponed
the
removal
of mail
sorting
machines
and
collection
boxes
last
month.
He said
it was
“to
avoid
even the
appearance
of
impact
on
election
mail.”
Despite
pausing
some
policies,
DeJoy
left in
place
rules
restricting
when
mail can
leave
warehouses,
which
several
postal
workers
have
said is
a main
culprit
behind
the
delays.
Federal
judges
have
since
ordered
the
Postal
Service
to halt
all
changes,
although
the
agency
said it
is
exploring
its
legal
options.
On-time
delivery
across
the
country
dipped
substantially
in the
weeks
after
DeJoy
took
office
in
mid-June,
according
to
internal
weekly
performance
data
obtained
by The
Associated
Press
through
a
Freedom
of
Information
Act
request.
While
service
began
rebounding
toward
the end
of
summer,
no
Postal
Service
region
is
meeting
the
agency’s
target
of
delivering
more
than 95%
of
first-class
mail
within
five
days.
“One
of the
most
frustrating
aspects
about
the
changes
that
have
happened
at the
Postal
Service
over the
past
several
months
is that
it’s
created
uncertainty
and
chaos
where
none
existed
prior,
and now
you do
have so
many
citizens
asking,
‘Is my
vote
going to
get
there on
time?’”
Benson
said.
Even
as DeJoy
took
over,
many of
the
Postal
Service
districts
serving
regions
that are
in
important
presidential
swing
states
delivered
mail at
well
below
the
national
average.
Quarterly
data
covering
April
through
June
shows
that
17.5% of
first-class
mail
took
longer
than
three or
five
days to
arrive
at its
destination
in many
parts of
the
country.
Mail
arrived
within
three to
five
days
less
than 90%
of the
time in
Milwaukee,
Miami,
Orlando,
the Ohio
valley
and in
the
North
Carolina
cities
of
Raleigh,
Durham
and
Charlotte,
according
to the
agency’s
quarterly
data.
Delivery
times
worsened
after
DeJoy
started
and
remained
below
the
agency’s
targets
at the
end of
August.
On-time
delivery
in
northern
Ohio,
which
includes
Cleveland,
dipped
to as
low as
63% in
July
before
rising
to 88%
by the
end of
August.
The
trend in
Pennsylvania
was
similar.
On-time
delivery
declined
to as
low as
79% for
the
Philadelphia
area and
to 67%
for the
central
part of
the
state.
Earlier
this
year,
the
Philadelphia
district
averaged
84.5%
on-time
delivery,
according
to the
quarterly
data.
Nick
Custodio,
deputy
city
commissioner
in
Philadelphia,
urged
mail-in
voters
to move
quickly
to
obtain
an
absentee
ballot
and send
it back
to avoid
any
delivery
delays.
“People
should
apply
early,”
he said.
“Apply
now, in
fact.”
The
Michigan
secretary
of state
is
mailing
every
registered
voter a
ballot
application
and is
encouraging
residents
to make
a plan
for
voting.
That
could
include
circumventing
the
Postal
Service
altogether
through
early
voting
or by
placing
ballots
in drop
boxes.
The
postal
district
covering
the
eastern
part of
the
state
includes
Detroit
and
other
places
that
could
determine
how
Michigan
votes in
the
presidential
race,
including
Dearborn,
Flint
and
Macomb
County.
On-time
mail
deliveries
there
fell to
as low
as 61%
at the
beginning
of last
month
and rose
to
around
80% by
the end
of
August.
The
greater
Michigan
area,
which
covers a
part of
the
state
that
leans
more
Republican
overall,
performed
at just
over
90%.
“We’re
encouraging
voters
to make
a plan
to vote
now,”
said
Merissa
Kovach,
a policy
strategist
at the
American
Civil
Liberties
Union of
Michigan,
adding
that
voters
should
use
ballot
drop
boxes if
Election
Day is
nearing
and they
haven’t
yet
mailed
their
ballot.
A
judge
last
week
said
Michigan
must
count
mailed
absentee
ballots
that
arrive
within
14 days
after
Election
Day if
postmarked
by Nov.
2.
Republicans
are
trying
to
appeal.
Postal
Service
spokesman
Dave
Partenheimer
said the
agency
is
committed
to
improving
service
and
pointed
to a
nearly
89%
national
on-time
rate for
first-class
mail at
the
start of
September.
On
the
ground,
the
public
turmoil
surrounding
the
Postal
Service
has at
least
some
voters
wondering
if the
mail-in
system
will
work.
“Lots of
customers
have
asked me
if their
ballots
will get
there on
time,”
said
Laura
Hogg, a
letter
carrier
in
Minneapolis,
Minnesota.
“Some
people
have
said
they’re
going to
go vote
in
person
just
because
of the
gravity
of the
election.
They
just
want to
make
sure
their
vote is
counted.”
___
Izaguirre
reported
from
Lindenhurst,
New
York.
Deshpande
reported
from
Chicago.
___
The
Associated
Press
produced
this
coverage
with
support
from the
Carnegie
Corporation
of New
York.
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