U.S. Senators send another letter to DeJoy about postal service

June 28, 2024 Shannon Lukens

By Shannon Lukens.

U.S. Senators John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet of Colorado have sent another letter to U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. They want to know what the U.S. Postal Service plans to do to get mail-in ballots delivered in time during the 2024 election, and beyond.

The letter was signed by 17 of their fellow senators.

The request relates to USPS facility consolidations that have been initiated by DeJoy, which affects on-time delivery in those communities where postal facilities have been consolidated. One of those is the Grand Junction Processing and Distribution Center, which would affect delivery on the Western Slope, as local mail would have to be redirected to Denver and then back to Western Slope communities.

Press release from Senator Hickenlooper’s office; June 28, 2024.

Hickenlooper, Bennet, Colleagues Press USPS on How Consolidation Could Impact On-Time Delivery of Mail-In Ballots

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet along with 17 of their Senate colleagues sent a letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy requesting information about how the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) plans to ensure the timely delivery of mail-in ballots throughout the 2024 election cycle and beyond.

“USPS serves an essential function in American elections. On a nonpartisan basis, it securely processes, transports, and delivers election mail, including ballots. In 2020, the Postal Service overcame a series of challenges, including the onset of a global pandemic, to fulfill this critical mission. Impressively, it delivered 97.9% of ballots within three days, even as a record number of Americans voted by mail. For the 2022 midterm elections, USPS maintained this standard of excellence and delivered 98.96% of ballots within three days,” wrote the senators.

The senators continued: “We applaud these achievements, but much has changed since 2022… We believe that the Postal Service remains well-equipped to securely deliver mail-in ballots. However, given the service disruptions already resulting from the DFA plan, we fear the same approach adopted by USPS in 2020 and 2022 may not be sufficient to guarantee on-time delivery results.”

Their request comes in light of USPS facility consolidations initiated under DeJoy, which have led to decreases in on-time delivery rates in communities where postal facilities have been consolidated. The USPS greenlit the downgrading of 56 of 59 selected postal facilities across the country – including in Colorado – but the consolidation process has been temporarily paused until after the 2024 election cycle. In April, Hickenlooper and Bennet wrote to DeJoy to express concerns about the recent proposals to consolidate the Grand Junction Processing and Distribution Center and the potential impacts on Colorado’s workforce and mail delivery systems.

Read the full text of the letter HERE.