ATLANTA — The Postmaster General says the U.S. Postal Service is ready for the flood of election mail ahead of the 2024 election.
“We’re going to be in great shape for the election. I’m pretty confident about everything that we’re doing,” DeJoy told The Associated Press on Thursday. “The American people should be confident.”
DeJoy has been under heat here in Georgia over massive delays in postal delivery following the opening of the new Palmetto distribution center.
U.S. Postal Service officials held a briefing Thursday on measures that are being taken to ensure election mail reaches its destinations, building on its performance in 2020, when 97.9% of ballots were returned to election officials within three days, and in 2022 when 98.9% of election mail was delivered within three days.
DeJoy said he’d like to inch closer to 100% this election cycle.
DeJoy was criticized for restricting overtime payments for postal workers and stopping the agency’s longtime practice of allowing late and extra truck deliveries in the summer of 2020.
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The previously scheduled dismantling of dozens of mail-sorting machines and removal of blue boxes, corresponding with a massive drop in first-class mail, provided additional fuel to critics. The postmaster general, who was a major donor to Trump, was thought to be on thin ice, especially with the election of Democratic President Joe Biden.
“It was sensationalized. It scared the hell out of the American people,” DeJoy said.
Reflecting on the period, he said the accusations were “just crazy” and especially frustrating as he worked seven days a week after taking over an organization that was going to run out of cash in 60 days.
“We got through that. The organization performed extremely well. After that, I began working with both sides of the aisle. My main mission now is to make this place better. And we have made this place better,” he said.
U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly, a frequent critic of changes under DeJoy, said Thursday that he’s confident Postal Service workers “will ensure every ballot cast by mail is safely and securely delivered.”
However, the Virginia Democrat also said that oversight is important and that “Congress must remain vigilant on decisions made by the postmaster general in the days leading up to this election.”
The Postal Service is proceeding with a 10-year, $40 billion Postal Service modernization plan in which it’s renovating aging facilities, opening modern regional hubs in Georgia, Virginia, Oregon, and elsewhere, and starting the process of purchasing 100,000 vehicles to replace older delivery trucks dating to 1987. The next-generation delivery vehicle was displayed Thursday at a separate event in Indiana that was aimed at promoting the Postal Service’s investments.
The Postal Service also showed that it could make adjustments when it abandoned a criticized plan to reroute Reno, Nevada-area mail processing to Sacramento, California, that had created an uproar among northern Nevada residents.
If there’s anything the public can do to help, DeJoy said, it would be to avoid procrastination when it comes to mailing ballots. “Vote early! If you’re using the mail, help us out,” he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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