TPM:

Election officials who were already facing major challenges in making voting accessible operations during the pandemic were thrown a new curveball this week.

Mail service could be slowed down in coming months, as part of a campaign to overhaul the U.S. Postal Service launched by new agency leadership appointed by President Trump.

The proposed operational changes were first reported by the Washington Post this week, based on internal documents, some of which TPM has also obtained. In a statement to TPM, the U.S. Postal Service said that the “overall plan” had not been “finalized,” while stressing that the agency is “committed to delivering Election Mail in a timely manner.”

But major questions remain about how the newly-reported changes could affect the ability of absentee voters to get their ballots in on time to be counted. Several other aspects of the election process also rely on the mail, and there is now a scramble, in light of the recent USPS news, to understand what steps election officials need to take to keep things running smoothly.

In interviews with TPM, election officials, vote-by-mail experts, and mail vendors outlined ways the proposed changes negatively impact the vote-by-mail process, which is being adopted in record numbers across the country amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

They provided several scenarios in which the refusal to let USPS employees work overtime — the main driver of the changes being described — could lead to voters being disenfranchised.