Election officials are seeking clarification from the Postal Service about how recent cutbacks will affect what’s expected to be an avalanche of mail-in voting in the upcoming election. Changes in postal operations have already led to mail delays around the country, raising alarms about what will happen in November.
NPR has learned that a bipartisan group of secretaries of state, who are responsible for running elections, requested to meet this week with postmaster general, Louis DeJoy, who was appointed to the job in May. But that meeting has yet to be scheduled.
“Unfortunately, [we] still haven’t had a direct conversation with the U.S. postmaster,” New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver told NPR Thursday. “Hopefully, we will soon.” Toulouse Oliver is president of the National Association of Secretaries of State and one of those who requested the meeting.