LANSING, Mich. — Today, Sen. Rosemary Bayer (D-Beverly Hills) is introducing a resolution asking Congress to fully fund the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) considering record mail voting during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Our seniors, small businesses, veterans and rural areas already rely heavily on mail as part of their daily lives, but this year we have even more people relying on the mail system to ensure their vote is counted as they cast their ballots from the safety of their homes,” Sen. Bayer said. “The Postal Service is an essential hub of government that has already been struggling to meet increased demands under the tightened constraints of a deadly pandemic, and now is certainly not the time for $25 billion in sorely needed funding to be withheld from them.”
Republicans have been trying to hamstring the USPS in an effort to suppress votes and bolster President Donald Trump’s re-election. The attack on the postal service is a national emergency, according to The Washington Post, and Michigan has already been affected — the Detroit Free Press recently reported that 165 absentee ballots showed up nearly a week late in Sterling Heights.
“This attempt to sabotage mail delivery is a clear threat to all of us, every single vote being counted, and our democracy,” Sen. Bayer said. “Snow, rain, heat, and gloom of night has never stopped mail delivery before, and political games should certainly not stop it now.”
###