Due to the novel coronavirus, millions of voters will cast their ballots through the mail in 2020, which requires a fully functioning United States Postal Service to ensure voters have their voices heard. No voter should be forced to choose between their health and safety and exercising their constitutional right to vote because our government did not fully fund the U.S. Postal Service which plays a critical role in ensuring that our citizens can vote by mail.
For many voters, the postal service represents the only option to cast their ballots: Overseas servicemembers, Americans in rural communities, and people with disabilities have relied on the US Postal Service to cast their ballots in every election for more than two centuries.
Undermining the postal service’s ability to do its work will deliver a serious blow to democracy. The postal service remains a trusted agency that has processed hundreds of millions of overseas and absentee ballots for decades, supporting five states with completely mail-in elections every cycle.
Congress must fully fund this government agency and protect our mail infrastructure, ensuring elections in the United States remain free, fair, and accessible.
The League of Women Voters supports funding levels for the postal service in the U.S. House HEROES Act, which includes assurance that every voter can access no-excuse absentee vote-by-mail in federal elections.
Leslie Hanson, Greencastle League of Women Voters