America’s postmaster general, Louis DeJoy, conceded on Friday he had implemented recent changes that led to mail delays at the United States Postal Service (USPS) but said he would not reverse the decision to remove mail equipment ahead of the election. DeJoy, a major Republican donor without prior USPS experience, made his first appearance before Congress amid widespread scrutiny over the mail delays and his management of the agency since taking over in June. Mail-in voting is set to be a key feature of the November election due to the health threats potentially posed by in-person voting during the coronavirus pandemic. Democrats and civil liberties groups have raised concerns that the actions taken at the post office could amount to a campaign of voter suppression. DeJoy said he implemented a change instructing USPS trucks to leave on time, regardless of whether all the mail was ready to go out. The move led to outcry from postal workers who said a fundamental principle at the USPS has been to not leave mail behind, no matter what. DeJoy said in theory, the move should have led to more efficient delivery, but conceded that hadn’t happened.“Unfortunately, our production process within the plants was not fully aligned with this established schedule. So we had some delays in the mail, and our recovery process in this should have been a few days and it’s mounted to be a few weeks,” he said. “The only change that I made was that the trucks leave on time. Theoretically, everyone should have got their mail faster.”Pressed by Senator Jacky Rosen, a Nevada Democrat, DeJoy declined to say what kind of analysis, if any, USPS had done before implementing the changes.


All data is taken from the source: https://www.theguardian.com/
Article Link: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/aug/21/usps-louis-dejoy-senate-hearing-mail-in-voting


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