Post office concerns highlighted at Senate hearing on elections amid COVID-19

Will the postal service deliver ballots on time for votes to be counted in November?

“The post office is a very difficult situation for us right now.”

That’s how Rick Stream, a Republican elections official from St. Louis County in Missouri, responded to a question Wednesday at a Senate Rules and Administration Committee hearing about concerns over mail-in and absentee ballots not getting to election officials on time as the U.S. Postal Service faces funding and logistical challenges.

Stream said that within his jurisdiction, the percentage of absentee voters jumped from about 10 percent seen in normal circumstances to 45 percent in the most recent election, and he expected that figure to increase with legal mail-in voting in November. Continue reading.