Are You Well Served by the USPS?

The U.S. Constitution provides for nearly universal adult access to the ballot.  The pandemic is making that difficult. Most voting precincts had historically depended upon retirees to administer the system, many have to shutdown as this high-risk population is reluctant to participate this year.  

Younger people need to step up.  If you want to volunteer, contact your local elections board. Search on your local government name plus elections. See also this useful information from the National Conference on State Legislatures.

State and local governments learned they cannot rely on the US Postal Service for a solution.  They hoped to expand early voting by absentee ballots or voting by mail.  For this to work, the U.S. Post Office would need to provide high quality service equally to all citizens. In fact, it does not.  It has been under-funded for many years and has recently lost many workers due to the pandemic.  The new Postmaster-General appointed in May 2020 has implemented changes meant to improve USPS fiscal sustainability that further affect USPS capacity to deliver the mail. The USPS alerted 46 states that they could not count on the USPS to deliver ballots on time.  The same is true for all other items delivered by the USPS, including medicine.

Find out how your area has been affected by changes in USPS performance.  Most parts of the U.S. have seen the quality of postal services decline this year. The worst hit areas are New York city and the Triboro area, and Detroit.  Very few areas saw improvements. Some of those that did include North & South Dakota, Indiana, and Salt Lake City. Check out the summary of USPS data in the table at the bottom of this page below.

Want to learn more?

Check out our short course on American Democracy: Liberal and Republican.

For some pros and cons of voting by mail, see our earlier blog, Voting During the Pandemic.

The right of citizens to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude, nor on account of sex, failure to pay any poll tax or other tax, so long as they are 18 years or older.  (U.S. Constitution, 15th Amendment, 19th Amendment, 24th Amendment, and 26th Amendment.)

Photo credit: U.S. Air Force, Tech. Sgt. Shanda L. De Anda 

USPS Quarterly Performance for Two-Day, First Class Mail, Percent Arriving On-Time

 Number of Zip-codesFY2019 Q3FY2020 Q3Change
Annual Targets (% On-Time) 96.596.50
Actual Outcomes (% On-Time) 93.992.4-1.5
Minimum 87.368.4-19.4
Maximum 96.296.12.7
 
CAPITAL METRO AREA   
Atlanta89392.1-0.9
Baltimore993.288.9-4.3
Capital (D.C.)991.288.9-2.3
Greater South Carolina89595.10.1
Greensboro1194.593.2-1.3
Mid-Carolinas1093.793.4-0.3
Northern Virginia792.591.6-0.9
Richmond1592.191-1.1
EASTERN AREA   
Appalachian2995.694.7-0.9
Central Pennsylvania2295.193.5-1.6
Kentuckiana3095.194.6-0.5
Northern Ohio1593.392.3-1
Ohio Valley179392.5-0.5
Philadelphia Metro694.591.8-2.7
South Jersey1294.992.8-2.1
Tennessee1795.294.4-0.8
Western New York1096.295.2-1
Western Pennsylvania209695.7-0.3
GREAT LAKES AREA   
Central Illinois1092.891.8-1
Chicago390.488.7-1.7
Detroit79273.5-18.5
Gateway2093.192.6-0.5
Greater Indiana1691.993.61.7
Greater Michigan1395.191.8-3.3
Lakeland1893.9940.1
NORTHEAST AREA   
Albany1695.493.6-1.8
Caribbean487.3902.7
Connecticut Valley1794.590-4.5
Greater Boston1493.490.9-2.5
Long Island593.386.6-6.7
New York487.868.4-19.4
Northern New England2995.394-1.3
Northern New Jersey1192.387.1-5.2
Triboro787.874.5-13.3
Westchester992.488.2-4.2
PACIFIC AREA   
Bay-Valley794.793.4-1.3
Honolulu395.492.1-3.3
Los Angeles892.389.2-3.1
Sacramento1194.892.1-2.7
San Diego794.594-0.5
San Francisco794.693.7-0.9
Santa Ana69594.3-0.7
Sierra Coastal1394.293.5-0.7
SOUTHERN AREA   
Alabama1894.193.1-1
Arkansas1495.695.2-0.4
Dallas1193.292.6-0.6
Fort Worth1593.392-1.3
Gulf Atlantic2194.894.5-0.3
Houston89392.1-0.9
Louisiana1394.793.1-1.6
Mississippi139694.1-1.9
Oklahoma1696.296-0.2
Rio Grande199493.7-0.3
South Florida69392.2-0.8
Suncoast1394.494.1-0.3
WESTERN AREA   
Alaska593.292.3-0.9
Arizona2794.494.2-0.2
Central Plains3095.695.60
Colorado/Wyoming2993.790.4-3.3
Dakotas299596.11.1
Hawkeye (Mainly Iowa)2595.195.90.8
Mid-America2194.994.3-0.6
Nevada-Sierra994.4950.6
Northland1993.894.30.5
Portland1194.892.7-2.1
Salt Lake City1395.2960.8
Seattle1594.894.6-0.2
Source: U.S. Postal Service Quarterly Performance Reports

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