On Thursday, President Trump said that he would block $25 billion in emergency funding for the United States Postal Service to prevent the use of mail-in ballots this November.
The White House’s effort to limit voting by mail likely stems from the fear that mail-in voting would hurt Trump’s chances of getting re-elected. Trump admitted that Democrats were more likely to vote by mail while his own supporters were far more likely to participate in person. A Pew Research survey conducted this week revealed that his statement might be true, since only 17 percent of Republicans would prefer to vote by mail compared to 58 percent of Biden-leaning Democrats.
“They want three and a half billion dollars for something that’ll turn out to be fraudulent, that’s election money basically. They want three and a half billion dollars for the mail-in votes. Universal mail-in ballots. They want $25 billion, billion, for the Post Office,” Trump said. “Now they need that money in order to make the Post Office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots.”
Today on Fox, Trump made it clear that his effort to defund the Postal Service is a blatant attempt at mass voter suppression. No, Mr. President. We won’t let you sabotage the election. This is a democracy, not a damn dictatorship. Your reign of authoritarianism will soon end. https://t.co/CI24RvFtFm
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) August 13, 2020
Trump admits he’s sabotaging the Postal Service so universal mail voting will be impossible during an election that will be conducted amid a pandemic this November pic.twitter.com/epmxcgwLjK
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 13, 2020
Trump’s refusal to support mail-in ballots and making misleading claims of voter fraud will hurt voters, including his own supporters, said David Becker, the executive director of the nonpartisan Center for Election Innovation and Research.
By simplifying the election process and making it accessible by mail, registered BIPOC voters who did not vote in the 2016 election (46 percent of nonvoters) might participate in November, which could drastically impact the results of the election.
If your vote didn’t matter so much, they wouldn’t be trying so hard to keep you from voting.
— COMMON (@common) August 13, 2020
However, Trump’s opposition might also act as a potential deterrent for registered voters, as in-person participation during a pandemic poses the threat of exposure to the coronavirus, which has disproportionately harmed and killed people of color.
This has to be an impeachable offense! Intentionally sabotaging the USPS is dangerous to Americans–especially when it’s used for getting letters, checks, medications, packages, etc.
— Gregory Pearsoll (@GPJaysfan) August 13, 2020
