As President Donald Trump threatens to defund the United States Postal Service, some are stepping up to defend the agency and mail-in voting.
A rally called “Save Our Mail, Save Our Vote,” is scheduled to be held in New Jersey at 12 p.m. on Friday.
“It’s not just a lack of funds. This is a dismantling, this is meddling in our postal service by the Trump administration,” says Red Bank Councilwoman Kate Triggiano.
The councilwoman is also a member of Our Revolution Monmouth County, one of the groups sponsoring the rallies. Triggiano will be outside the Shrewsbury Post Office on Friday.
Rallies will also be held in 21 other municipalities across New Jersey such as Toms River and Newton.
“The heads of the postal service unions, they’re sounding the alarm that they don’t have the resources to do their jobs properly,” Triggiano says.
The fear comes from the president’s reluctance to provide the $25 billion the USPS says it needs to stay afloat. Trump has said that if the USPS isn’t funded, then there can’t be any mail-in voting for the November presidential election. Trump has stated that he fears mail-in voting will lead to voter fraud and ruin his chance at re-election.
“They just use that as an excuse. Mail-in ballots - other than absentee, which is a great thing – but mail-in ballots are very dangerous for our country,” Trump said.
However, in response to this, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy says, “The Postal Service is ready today to handle whatever volume of election mail it receives."
DeJoy added that planned changes, due to budget cuts, won't go through until after the election. Retail hours won't change, mail processing and boxes will stay in place and no processing facilities will be closed.
DeJoy has been under fire for weeks after approving the budget cuts months before the election. Democrats have accused him of doing so to help get Trump re-elected.
New Jersey is among 22 states that is suing the Postal Service, DeJoy and the president over those concerns.
States, including New Jersey, will be leaning on mail-in voting rather than voting at the polls due to safety concerns for COVID-19. In-person voting will still be allowed in New Jersey, but voters will use provisional ballots which won’t be counted until after the election to ensure that the voter did not also send in a ballot through the mail.
Friday’s rallies are designed to ensure that anyone who wants a mail-in vote will be able to do so while also ensuring the integrity of the ballot process.
“This is not a Democratic or Republican issue. This is an issue of protecting our democracy. The Postal Service is necessary,” Triggiano says.
Postmaster General DeJoy will be questioned on Friday by a Senate committee.