“It goes beyond being disingenuous,” Johnson told The Hill. “When you take sorting machines out of the post office, that were expressly put in to be rapid sorters to ensure mail is timely, and the rationale is making it quicker, that is lying.”
Johnson said the changes, outlined in an NAACP lawsuit filed Thursday against the Postal Service and DeJoy, were electorally motivated.
“It is not only seeking to undermine elections and subvert democracy, it is putting people’s lives at risk,” said Johnson.
In the lawsuit, the NAACP alleges the post office did not follow proper legal procedures before implementing DeJoy’s program, rendering the reforms illegal.
The NAACP further alleges that the changes have resulted “in unreliable service and widespread delays.”
A spokesperson for the Postal Service referred The Hill to a Monday statement by DeJoy, where he said the service “is ready today to handle whatever volume of election mail it receives this fall.”
And DeJoy on Tuesday backed down from his ambitious reform program, as 20 states threatened to sue the Postal Service.
“That’s fine, but the changes already made have created harm, so we’re addressing the harm created,” said Johnson.
Johnson said that harm is twofold: People who depend on the mail for essential items like medicine could suffer from postal delays, and electorally, confidence in the security of voting by mail has been undermined.
“When you cut the hours and ability for overtime for post workers leading into a high-volume season for the election [and] the end result will be mail not delivered in a timely manner, you are seeking to undermine our election,” said Johnson.
Johnson added that voters of color and poor voters, who are less likely to participate in elections, are more likely to be disenfranchised by actions that undermine trust in voting methods.
In a recent poll of Latino and Black voters for Voter Participation Center and the Center for Voter Information, both groups were found to have distrust of mail-in voting systems.
Half of Latino voters surveyed said they planned to vote by mail, and half of Black voters said they would prefer to do so.