Late mail, mailboxes removed from the streets … Donald Trump is accused by his opponents of doing everything to destroy the American public postal service, in order to make impossible a postal vote which could, according to him, favor his opponent Joe Biden for the presidential election in November.
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The US president “thinks a low turnout will be good for him. And he wants to discourage people from voting by mail because he thinks it will be against him. It is pathetic. This is not what is expected of a President of the United States, ”denounced Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders Sunday on ABC channel.
“We are in the midst of a pandemic, Mr. President, and people must not have to put their lives in danger in a queue, get sick and maybe die to vote,” he added.
Mail voting, used for years in the United States, is due to be more widely deployed for the November 3 presidential election due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
But Donald Trump is opposed to it, crying out for the announced fraud. And the campaign has crystallized for a few days, around the American post office, the USPS.
It has been led since the spring by Louis DeJoy, a close friend of Donald Trump, who is also one of the major donors to his campaign.
This one leads drum beating reforms supposed to bring back in the green the accounts of the post office, deficit since 2008. But they are suspected to have in reality for goal to prevent the vote by mail.
Several dozen people demonstrated outside his home in Washington on Saturday morning. “Stop rejecting voters” (“Stop voting suppression”), indicated a sign held up by one of them.
And Democratic officials in Congress are now planning to summon elected officials in extraordinary session from August 24, for hearings of those responsible for the postal file and to vote for emergency aid.
“Pure Trump”
Donald Trump reiterated Saturday to reporters that voting by mail would be a “disaster”, assuring, however, that he was not seeking “at all” to hinder the smooth running of this public service. He also defended Louis DeJoy, a “fantastic man”.
“We have seen that the generalized postal vote is a disaster,” for its part advanced Sunday on ABC Jason Miller, campaign adviser to the president.
“The president has already said he was prepared to give more money” to the USPS, he said again, criticizing Democrats for being on vacation rather than trying to come to an agreement with the White House. “This is all political.”
The Democratic opposition has been asking for several months to bail out this bicentennial public service, whose white and blue vans roam the roads of the United States, sliding door open.
Donald Trump had so far refused to pay a dime, even making it clear Thursday on Fox News that he did not want to bail out the USPS so that it was “not equipped” for “a generalized mail vote.”
His Democratic competitor for the White House Joe Biden had then taunted him: “Pure Trump. He does not want an election ”.
Former President Barack Obama also reacted: “We had never before seen a president say” I am going to bring the postal service to its knees (…) and I will clearly say why “”.
“We can not let Donald Trump destroy” the USPS (United States Postal Service), had denounced Friday on Twitter Kamala Harris, the running mate of Joe Biden.
Late ballots
It was first of all the frequent mail delays complained of by the Americans that raised questions.
Then machines, deemed obsolete, were removed from sorting centers. And some cities have seen their letterboxes disappear from the streets, to save money.
The USPS especially recently warned most US states, according to information from the Washington Post, that it could not deliver in due time millions of ballots, which therefore could not be taken into account.
If Donald Trump opposes the postal vote, it is, according to some observers, to prepare the spirits in order to be able to contest a possible defeat.
He also knows that this could encourage the vote of African-American and Hispanic voters, who are more abstinent because of their often more precarious situation. As the election takes place during the week, it is indeed necessary to leave work to go and vote.
He is also aware that Democratic voters are generally more inclined to vote by mail than those on his side.