The Postal Service must exercise its discretion and utilize the Postal Police Force to protect mail-in ballots wherever they may be, the author writes. Image: Rebekah Zemansky/Shutterstock.com
By: Frank Albergo, Postal Police Officers AssociationThe United States Postal Service recently issued a press release which “affirmed” its “commitment to secure and timely delivery of election mail ahead of 2024 general election.” The Postal Service assured that it “will deploy proven extraordinary measures in the weeks immediately ahead of and following the Nov. 5 general election” and “the Postal Inspection Service will implement robust measures to ensure the secure delivery of mail-in ballots.”
Remarkably, none of these “extraordinary and robust measures” include the utilization of the Postal Police Force to stop the mail theft which is spreading across America like wildfire. And although mail thieves are not specifically targeting mail-in ballots, ballots will nevertheless be the collateral damage of the vast amounts of mail being stolen from blue collection boxes, green relay boxes, cluster boxes, USPS vehicles and post office loading docks.
To be clear, although it is conceivable that mail theft can affect the integrity of an election, I believe it is extremely unlikely. That said, certain candidates (and their supporters) who lose a close race in a district or state where mail theft is running rampant will almost certainly call into question the integrity of the election results regardless of the validity of such a claim. The Postal Service seems to understand this unfortunate fact when it states that it “will use its discretion to avoid unnecessary optics or perception concerns . . . even when there is no real possibility that they will impact the Election Mail performance of the Postal Service.”
Given this “perception concern” — perhaps the Postal Service would like to explain its stubborn refusal to reverse its inane decision to strip Postal Police Officers of their authority to protect mail-in ballots away from postal facilities — only three months before the 2020 national election? In fact, the Postal Service even went a step further in minimizing the ability of Postal Police Officers to ensure the timely delivery of mail-in ballots. More specifically, as reported by the The Wall Street Journal — the Postal Service refused to utilize PPOs inside postal facilities to sweep for undelivered ballots. From the WSJ Article:
“Judge Sullivan ordered the special sweeps in all states with pending ballot deadlines after the Postal Service failed to follow his court order on Tuesday to sweep mail-processing facilities for any ballots before polling places closed.
The Postal Service said it was unable to adhere to the deadline because it couldn’t change the work schedules and duties of approximately 1,300 postal inspectors. It said it needed up to five people per shift to conduct the sweeps and did them later that day, but sometimes finished after polls had closed.
Union officials who represent postal police officers said it had scores of uniformed officers inside many facilities who could easily have assisted the sweeps under the timeline laid out by the court. Union officials said the officers were told not to help even though the court order specified actions were to be taken by inspectors or their ‘designees.’ For example, the Postal Police Officers Association said it had officers inside mail-sorting facilities in some battleground states at the time the sweeps were mandated, including eight in the Pittsburgh mail-processing plant, eight in the Philadelphia plant, 10 officers inside the Atlanta plant and four officers on duty at the Cleveland plant.
A spokesman for the Postal Service said inspectors were specially trained to do the sweeps, not the officers. He declined to elaborate.”
Since the 2020 USPS ballot sweep fiasco, the Postal Police Officers Association (PPOA) has requested—on multiple occasions—that Postal Police Officers receive this so-called “specialized training” that only postal inspectors receive (i.e., using your eyes to see undelivered ballots — a process known formally as “observation of mail conditions”).
As of this writing, the Postal Service has yet to provide PPOs with any “specialized training” to sweep facilities for undelivered ballots. This, of course, is in addition to the Postal Service’s stubborn refusal to deploy Postal Police Officers to prevent mail theft and protect letter carriers who have increasingly become the targets of criminal attack. So much for avoiding “unnecessary optics” and “perception concerns.”
Regrettably, the Postal Service evidently believes that breaking the PPOA in a labor dispute is more important than the integrity of the election process — perceived or otherwise.
On September 11, 2024, the National Association of State Election Directors wrote a letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy which warned:
“Over the course of the last year, election officials across the country have raised serious questions about processing facility operations, lost or delayed election mail, and front-line training deficiencies impacting USPS’s ability to deliver election mail in a timely and accurate manner. Despite repeated engagement with USPS Election and Political Mail headquarters staff and state/regional Managers of Customer Relations, we have not seen improvement or concerted efforts to remediate our concerns.”
Apparently, the PPOA is not the only entity which is concerned about the secure and prompt delivery of mail-in ballots.
The U.S. Postal Service, perhaps America’s most beloved institution, is in peril. Postal workers are being attacked and mail is being stolen at unprecedented levels. As the January 6th Capitol Riots made clear, leaving American institutions unprotected is a recipe for disaster. And as the Postal Service seems to understand “avoiding unnecessary optics or perception concerns” is vital to protecting the election process which is the most sacred of all American institutions.
To that end, the Postal Service must exercise its discretion and utilize the Postal Police Force to protect mail-in ballots wherever they may be.
Because November 5th is not far away.
Frank Albergo is the current national president of the Postal Police Officers Association (PPOA). The PPOA represents uniformed police officers employed by the United States Postal Inspection Service.
*The views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and do not imply endorsement by FEDweek.
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