Rep. Hank Johnson: Trump Trying To ‘Deprive People Of Their Full And Fair Right To Vote’
U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson and his wife, DeKalb County Commissioner Mereda Davis-Johnson speak outside a post office in Decatur.
Emil Moffatt/WABE
Georgia Democratic Congressman Hank Johnson calls recent changes at the U.S. Postal Service an “attack on our very democracy.”
Rep. Johnson says amid the pandemic, as many as half of U.S. voters may opt to vote by mail in November. But he says that might not be possible because of actions taken by new Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, which have led to slower delivery times in the Atlanta area and around the country.
“What he and Donald Trump have been doing is to try to sabotage the operations of the post office,” said Johnson. “And the reason why they’re doing that is to deprive people of their full and fair right to vote in a free election.”
Johnson and other DeKalb County leaders gathered outside a post office in Decatur to protest the USPS shakeup.
Johnson says his fellow Democrats in Washington want postal operations restored to what they were at the start of the year. That means letter carriers can earn overtime and sorting machines that were abruptly taken out of facilities should be put back.
More than a million Georgians voted by mail during the June primaries after the secretary of state sent out absentee ballot applications to all 6.9 million active voters. But Brad Raffensperger’s office said they won’t be sending out applications for the November election.
Some metro Atlanta counties have mulled the idea of sending applications on their own, though funding has often been an issue.
Earlier this summer, DeKalb County’s board of elections voted to send applications to the more than 530,000 registered voters in DeKalb. Commissioner Mereda Davis-Johnson, who attended Tuesday’s press conference, said the board is “working very hard” to make sure the applications go out to all voters, active and inactive.
And, Davis-Johnson even proposed going a step further.
“The board of commission is committed to putting prepaid postage on the application and the ballot itself,” she said.
Several voting rights groups have called on Georgia to pay for return postage for applications and ballots but to no avail. A lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union called the postage requirement a “poll tax”, but that argument was rejected by a federal judge last week.
“We’re doing what needs to be done and that is giving our citizens the opportunity to vote by mail,” said Davis-Johnson.
Retired Employee, Union Rep Weigh In
Dexter Brown was a mail carrier for 37 years before he retired. He says postal workers are being kept from fully doing their work.
“If you’re going to work during the pandemic, clearly you want to do your job. Why would you go not to do the job?” asked Brown. “If It’s going to be a fair election, let it be a fair election.”
Mitchell Taylor, with the American Postal Workers Union Atlanta Metro Area Local No. 32, called the mail slowdown an “egregious attack on the postal service and the sanctity of the mail.”
“The postal service is the safest way, by far, that enables the people to vote,” Taylor continued. “You don’t have to worry about long lines during this pandemic.”
Sen. Loeffler Defends Postmaster General
Across town Tuesday, Republican Georgia U.S. Senator Kelly Loeffler launched the Women for Kelly Coalition and marked the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th amendment.
“We have a postmaster general that’s looking at creating more efficiencies,” said Loeffler when asked about the postal service. “That’s creating more opportunity for people to get their mail delivered on time. That hasn’t been happening over the years, necessarily.”
“My focus right now is on making sure Americans know the range of choices in voting, whether it’s by mail, whether it’s early or whether it’s in person,” said Loeffler.
On Tuesday afternoon, DeJoy released a statement saying that operational changes at the postal service would be halted until after the election. He also said, “we will deliver our nation’s election mail on time” and called it the USPS’s “top priority.”
WABE’s Emma Hurt contributed to this report.
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