Controversy over postal service ahead of US presidential election

Several Democratic-led U.S. states are now threatening legal action to stop changes within the USPS, which they believe will make post-election voting difficult in the presidential election this fall.

These include removed mailboxes, a ban on overtime, dismantling of sorting machines and ever smaller grants. In addition, it is intended that postal votes should not automatically be counted as priority mail, as they have done in the past.

According to the Democratic Party and other critics, the post is being made inoperable before the election, as postal voting is expected to increase due to the corona pandemic. And there are concerns that the postal votes will not arrive on time. But Louis DeJoy, who is the highest responsible for the postal service, believes that it is about making the post office financially stable.

In a mailing to the employees, he says that this has, however, had unintended consequences.

DeJoy, a businessman and a major donor to Donald Trump's election campaigns, was elected to the executive post this spring. Unlike his predecessors, he has no background in the Post Office.

President Trump has previously said that postal voting can lead to widespread electoral fraud. On Thursday, the president also said that in order to reduce the number of postal votes, he does not want to give the USPS an increased budget. The statement was later withdrawn.

According to White House Chief Mark Meadows, it is not true that sorting machines should be dismantled before the election. He says it is an invention of the Democrats and that Donald Trump will not prevent anyone from voting the way they want.

"The President of the United States will not interfere in voting that takes place correctly, whether it is about postal voting or something else," Meadows told CNN.

On Sunday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi recalled the House from the summer recess for a vote on a law intended to protect the Post Office. The vote is expected to take place on Saturday and Donald Trump has promised not to veto it.