Politics

Postmaster General Grilled By Reps Over Concerns About USPS Handling Mail-In Ballots

Screenshot/YouTube/House Appropriations Committee

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy was grilled by representatives on Thursday while testifying at a congressional hearing on the United States Postal Service’s (USPS) readiness for the upcoming presidential election.

Several representatives questioned whether USPS would be able to handle election mail during DeJoy’s testimony in front of the House Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government. His testimony comes on the heels of concerns, including from the National Association of State Election Directors, about USPS being able to process and deliver the millions of ballots.

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Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson of Iowa asked DeJoy if USPS had processes in place to ensure that USPS would be responsive in the case that problems with mail-in ballots were identified. DeJoy responded that the Postal Service is “a large organization going through a lot of change” and that they need to be more “proactive.”

“We need to be more proactive and not just wait for issues to come to us to have dialogue with these people, but to be proactive and express in building confidence,” DeJoy said.

“People don’t want an excuse of a change, they want to make sure that their ballots are going to be there in time,” Hinson later said.

Democratic Rep. Matt Cartwright of Pennsylvania asked DeJoy if Americans would be able to “trust” mail-in ballots, to which DeJoy replied they “absolutely” would.

“Let me be clear, the Postal Service is ready to successfully deliver the nation’s mail-in ballots,” DeJoy said during his testimony. “We have a long track record of success delivering election mail back to 1864. Even though, during the global plan pandemic in 2020, we were successful in delivering a historic volume of mail-in ballots during the presidential election year, delivering 99.89% of the ballot from voters to election officials within seven days, our recommended common-sense timeframe for ballot return by mail.”

DeJoy told reporters last week that some election officials do not fully understand USPS’s efforts towards delivering ballots on time, according to the Associated Press. DeJoy went on to say that it is difficult for USPS to address “generalities” about problems.

“Let me end where I started, the Postal Service is fully ready to successfully deliver the nation’s mail-in ballots for voters who choose to use us to vote,” DeJoy said.

USPS declined to comment to the Daily Caller News Foundation.