Unsanitized: The COVID-19 Report for Aug. 11, 2020

More Evidence USPS Means to Make Voting Harder
Letter encourages states to pay more to get ballots to voters

 

Postal workers load up trucks in McLean, Virginia. Ballot access and
delivery has become a major concern for mail-in voting. (J. Scott
Applewhite/AP Photo)

First Response

There was some pushback on the claim made in reporting by the Capitol
Forum that the U.S. Postal Service wants to increase the rates

at which states would pay to mail ballots to voters from the 20-cent
marketing mail rate to the 55-cent first class rate. The USPS put out a
denial and everything, calling it a "baseless assertion... without
merit, and frivolous." But it was carefully worded, calling only the
idea that the postal service would raise rates in order to restrict
voting by mail meritless, and that "if public policy makers choose to
utilize the mail as part of their election system" the agency would
stand ready.

A letter unearthed yesterday

reveals how the USPS might be influencing that decision. This letter,
sent to Kim Wyman, Secretary of State of the vote-by-mail state of
Washington, addressed how "certain deadlines concerning mail-in
ballots... may be incongruous with the Postal Service's delivery
standards." Specifically, it notes that states can use either
marketing mail or first-class mail to get their ballots to voters, but
that first-class mail would get them there significantly faster.

"The Postal Service recommends that election officials use First Class
Mail to transmit blank ballots and allow 1 week for delivery to
voters," the letter reads. "Using Marketing Mail will result in
slower delivery times and will increase the risk that voters will not
receive their ballots in time to return them by mail."

Note that a previous letter to election officials, referenced in this
one, went out May 29, before Trump donor Louis DeJoy was installed as
Postmaster General, and then this one, dated July 31, went out after he
was in place.

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There is definitely a way to read this letter as the Postal Service
helpfully reminding election officials of key dates and timelines for
delivery, so they can get ballots printed and out to voters in a
reasonable timeframe. Indeed, the rest of the letter is specific to
Washington, states that ballots are usually mailed out with enough
advance time, and expresses concern mainly for voters who update their
voter registration after the mailing date. States may be setting
unrealistic goals with their own systems on what can be done with
mail-in voting.

But all that would divorce this letter from the context of prior
reporting that the Postal Service really wants states to pay the
increased rate, and that states and cities are increasingly
cash-strapped. It would also divorce it from the reality that mail is
slowing down
and backlogs are seen everywhere. (DeJoy has denied the slowdowns
,
and any ulterior motive about the election.)

It's hard to believe that this is about money. Let's say that every
single registered voter in the United States-153 million

as of 2018-gets a ballot mailed to them. (They won't, but for the
sake of argument let's say that.) The net increase from 20 cents to 55
cents is a total of $53.55 million. That level "is not going to help
the postal service appreciably," said Rick Hasen, election law
professor at UC-Irvine; it's a tiny portion of their overall revenue.

It may create enough of an excuse, however, to have local election
officials decide not to mail ballots at all, citing the increased cost.
That appears to be the play here, to put states and cities in the
position to create their own hurdles for voters.

Marc Elias, the Democrats' top election lawyer, called the letter
"an early
warning that USPS has abdicated its responsibility to facilitate a free
and fair election." He said that states now face a "logistical and
financial crisis" in preventing mass disenfranchisement, and cited
examples from previous primary elections of thousands of ballots being
left uncounted.

Meanwhile, the Capitol Forum has a follow-up, revealing documents where
career staff warn that raising the price of ballot delivery would
violate the National Voter Registration Act or the Voting Rights Act.
The documents also show that USPS top brass saw this as an opportunity
to raise revenue (as noted above, this isn't that true, so it's
probably a fig leaf for regulatory purposes) and that the initiative was
designated a "high priority" by leadership.

Raising the ballot cost would be almost impossible to do statutorily at
this point, given that it would require regulatory action and need to
survive a lawsuit. But the letter shows an alternative route: darkly
warn that ballots won't get to voters in time unless states pay more.
And if states use that to change their systems and place burdens on
voters to get a ballot, that's just the way it goes.

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Odds and Sods

Here are my segments from Democracy Now
yesterday. The first, with American Postal Workers Union president Mark
Dimondstein, discusses the Postal Service
.
The second covers Trump's executive measures on coronavirus relief
.

I was on The Ring of Fire with Sam Seder

talking about the Big Tech hearings. Listen here
.

I was on WHYY's Radio Times

this morning discussing the tech industry. Listen here
.

We have a lot of coronavirus coverage at the Prospect. Blaise Malley

on the risk to the census; Gayle Greene
with
an excellent feature on how education technology firms are cashing in on
the crisis; Connor Goodwin

on Nebraska meatpacking workers; and Bob Kuttner

on the testing debacle.

You can read all of our coronavirus coverage at prospect.org/coronavirus
. And email me
with tips, comments, and perspectives.

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Today I Learned

* College football in the fall appears doomed, and players announcing
their desire to play

but seeking a union in the process doesn't seem like it'll be
attractive to administrators. (New York Times)

* In particular, several players have contracted a heart condition

linked to coronavirus called myocarditis. (ESPN)

* I think you will see very few companies actually give back payroll
taxes

to workers; they'll hold them in escrow. (Wall Street Journal)

* Oh good, there's a Russia angle to this pandemic, as they announce a
vaccine with scant
testing. (Associated Press)

* In future years we will call it the Mark Meadows depression
.
(Washington Post)

* August rents still mostly being paid but there's been an increase in
payments by credit card
.
(Financial Times)

* The Trump pandemic timeline
.
(Slate)

* Some grocery items, like pest control and barbeque tools
,
still facing supply chain problems. (Wall Street Journal)

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