The Atlantic: “The 2020 election faces a cluster of overlapping challenges that could complicate voting over the next two months—among them a deadly pandemic, litigation that’s delaying the mailing of ballots, and a president who is spreading disinformation about voting. The Postal Service, besieged by complaints about its new leader and changes to its operations, had been at the top of the list of concerns just a few weeks ago.”
“Now, however, the mail might be the least of the election’s troubles. Leaders of two major postal unions are considerably more confident about USPS’s ability—and commitment—to help carry out the election than they were a month ago, when changes to mail delivery slowed service and prompted Democrats to accuse the newly installed postmaster general, Louis DeJoy, of plotting to sabotage the vote at the behest of President Trump. Following a bipartisan outcry, DeJoy suspended many of the changes he had implemented or planned until after the election. More important, union officials told me, he reaffirmed USPS’s long-standing policy of prioritizing and expediting election mail, and he brought union leaders onto a task force charged with ensuring the smooth running of an election that will feature a record flood of mail ballots. In essence, union officials said, the uproar worked to kick USPS into gear—at least until November.”