Paul Waldman: “Trump says an election in which too many Americans vote by mail would be illegitimate, so he’s doing everything he can to make sure that the Postal Service can’t handle the huge numbers of ballots it will have to deliver.”

“The White House made sure that grants for the Postal Service would not be included in previous coronavirus pandemic rescue packages (“We told them very clearly that the president was not going to sign the bill if [money for the Postal Service] was in it,” an administration official told The Post in April), and as the problems at the Postal Service worsen seemingly by the day, Trump is sending the same message about any new rescue bill Congress might pass. And of course, the reason so many people want to vote by mail this year is the continued strength of the pandemic, which is as bad as it is because of Trump’s denial and mismanagement. The implications for the election, with unprecedented numbers of Americans wary of going to polls in the midst of a pandemic, quickly became clear. As The Post reported last month, ‘Postal employees and union officials say the changes implemented by [DeJoy] are contributing to a growing perception that mail delays are the result of a political effort to undermine absentee voting.’ And now a new problem has emerged. In the past, the Postal Service has delivered ballots at bulk rates but essentially treated them like first-class mail, giving them priority to ensure they arrive quickly to voters. That has allowed states to save money while still getting ballots to voters quickly. But the Postal Service has warned election officials that if they don’t use higher-priced first-class mail to send ballots out — which would cost them almost three times as much — you never know how long they might take.”