3/22/16 On Wed., March 23, A Grand Alliance to Save Our Public Postal Service, a coalition of more than 130 national and local organizations, will convene the first of five hearings in Baltimore, MD. on “U.S. Postal Service: Will Slow Mail Affect U.S. Elections?” Additional hearings will take place later this spring in Cleveland, Greensboro, New York, and San Jose. The hearings will assess the reliability and quality of the U.S. mail service in the face of current and planned cutbacks.
Community Panel to Hear Testimony about Impact of Service Cuts – including Likely Delays in Mail Ballots that Could Signal Trouble for 2016 Presidential Race and other Elections
BALTIMORE, MD – The first in a series of field hearings to examine what works – and what doesn’t – in the U.S. Postal Service will be held in Baltimore tomorrow, March 23. The focus will be on how cutbacks in U.S. mail service will affect postal customers, including the delivery of mail ballots in this fall’s election. The 2016 election will be the first major election since service standards were lowered in January 2015.
The hearing will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at
Coppin State University Health and Human Services Bldg., 3d Floor Atrium
2500 W. North Ave
Baltimore, MD
At the Baltimore hearing, the following community leaders will hear testimony from small business owners, consumers, workers, and others who have been affected by cutbacks in mail delivery:
- John Seibel, election expert and president of Maryland-based True Ballot
- Mary Pat Clarke, Baltimore City Council
- Rev. Alvin C. Hathaway, Senior Pastor, Union Baptist Church
- Marvin ‘Doc’ Cheatham, civil rights activist
Among those testifying will be John Seibel, an election expert and president of True Ballot, a firm which provides private mail balloting services to publicly traded companies, labor unions, Native American tribes, homeowners associations, and other clients. Seibel will discuss recent elections that have been delayed or cast in doubt due to slow mail delivery.
The implications of slow mail delivery that Seibel will document could be a “canary in the coal mine” for the upcoming 2016 presidential elections. Some states, such as Oregon, vote entirely by mail. In other key election states, such as Ohio, a large share of the population votes or attempts to vote in advance of Election Day using the U.S. mail. Tens of millions of Americans – including senior citizens, members of the armed services, Americans abroad, and many others – now vote absentee or by mail. Slow delivery of their ballots could disenfranchise these voters – or delay definitive election results for an unknown period of time in the event of a close contest.
The problems with mail ballots are just one example of the problems postal consumers – including small businesses and non-profit organizations – have faced since U.S. Postal Service (USPS) management began an aggressive campaign to close postal facilities and reduce employment. On Jan. 6, 2015, as a result of cutbacks, the USPS announced a downgrading of its service standards, making it impossible to rely on next-day delivery of U.S. mail in most communities and delaying delivery of mail by days across the nation.
The stated goal of restructuring is to reduce costs. But a February report to the U.S. Postal Commission reveals that the USPS has actually lost money due to a recent round of facility closings, due to increased transportation costs required to transport mail to more distant processing facilities. Members of Congress have objected strongly to the USPS restructuring plan and the resulting decline in service standards.
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A Grand Alliance to Save Our Public Postal Service is a coalition of more than 130 national and local civil rights, environmental, faith-based, and labor organizations united to advocate for a great public Postal Service, including non-profit postal banking and other financial services.
News stories on slow mail
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Video: USPS consolidation slows down mailing
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As USPS slows down mail delivery, some letters are taking even longer to arrive than the new rules allow
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USPS District Manager apologizes for slow mail delivery, carrier shortage, promises fix
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Residents note slow mail delivery after Erie PA mail processing consolidation
There were less than 50 people at this meeting. Clearly, America isnt that concerned over reliability , frequency , or number of days of mail delivery .
Of course the mail ballots will be delayed. Those wishing to vote absentee better request the forms at the earliest possible date. While “John Doe” makes a point that the prefunding requirement hurt productivity, the USPS hasn’t made a payment in some time, and Congress hasn’t insisted they do so.
Plus, correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t Canada Post private now? That is not the way to go. If service is bad now, with privatization universal service dies, leaving millions with the burden of going to towns and cities to get mail. Plus, since it will be all about profit and nothing about service, which it barely is now, postage rates will skyrocket except for those damn direct marketers, who will bribe officials for cheap rates like usual. Box rental will be much much higher, special services like Express Mail will no doubt at least double in price, the salaries of carriers at minimum wage, and the quality of service as terrible as a new kid on their first day at McDonald’s.
Unions will disappear. Retirees could lose their pensions, TSP accounts and who knows what. Management is bad enough now, and it’s true they couldn’t care less about the customer. They will not do anything for carriers, either. With no oversight, the U.S. Postal Service will die. And if this country is idiotic enough to vote Trump or Cruz in in November, that day will be here quicker than we can imagine.
Don’t blame Postal management. It’s not their fault congress mandate the postal service to pay 56 billion dollars into a fund for people not hired by the postal service yet. Every year, for ten years, congress billed the postal service 5.6 billion dollars for a retirement benefit for employees that the service hadn’t employed yet. (2006 Postal Accountability act). They wouldn’t allow the service to raise rates to cover the cost of the bill. So instead they tried to cut costs. How? First by not hiring needed help when people retired and over working current employees. Having them work overtime to cover the positions. Second, Shutting down processing plants and shifting the sorting to other plants that weren’t designed to handle the larger volume of mail. This slowed everything down. Ended up costing more with overtime payment and increased trucking costs. All in an effort to bankrupt the postal service so the same politicians who passed the billcould make profits from backers such as FedEx and UPS. Before you think bankrupting the post office and privatizing the service would be beneficial. Look at other countries that have already done this. Every country that has privatize the Postal Service has had their rates increased. That’s every country. Canada for example used to be penny to penny The same way as the United States Postal Service. Now they charge a dollar for the same letter the United States charges $.49 for. And, you have to go into the cities to get your mail in Canada. There’s no universal service. It cuts into their profits. Also, UPS and FedEx prices are higher in Canada since there’s no cheaper Postal Service alternative. Sooner or later they’re privatize the US Postal Service saying it would be better and cheaper. After the fact, the American people will find out how costly it will turn out. All in an effort just to fatten politicians Walla all in an effort just to fatten politicians wallets.
Cheaper mail always gets cut to front of line…
Postal management knows that there is a problem, however they don’t care! Management spends more time trying to discipline the employees then working on service! An arbitrator once ruled in a hearing that management “has every right to mismanage “