[EL] Postal Service Issues

[Mark Scarberry]

Postal service representatives now seem to be saying that (1) they are not
removing mailboxes but rather moving them to locations where more mail has
been deposited, and (2) they have stopped removing them. Those statements
are a bit contradictory, and of course the location of mailboxes may affect
the ease by which citizens can mail their ballots. Postal service
representatives also say that you can mail letters (and ballots) from your
own mailbox. When I was young (and dinosaurs roamed the earth), we would
put outgoing mail in our unlocked mailbox at our curb and put up the red
flag. Does anyone still do that? (And of course lots of people don't have
their own mailboxes at the curb.) Even if it's just a matter of mischievous
kids removing outgoing mail from unlocked mailboxes, it's not wise to send
mail that way. And lots of people in urban areas may not have the kinds of
mailboxes that they could put outgoing mail in.

There are so many stories going around that I can't keep track of where
I've read about the postal service statements. Perhaps some of you are more
organized.

I have to say that I'm alarmed by this situation. It's  not surprising that
the postal workers union would want to preserve their members' possibility
of getting overtime pay, but if that's necessary to move the mail
efficiently then so be it.

There also have been suggestions that some of these cost-cutting measures
were contemplated before the pandemic hit. Perhaps others can clarify that
point. It wouldn't in any event make it acceptable to take steps that would
delay the delivery of ballots.

Mark

[image: Pepperdine wordmark]*Caruso School of Law*

*Mark S. Scarberry*

*Professor of Lawmark.scarberry at pepperdine.edu
<mark.scarberry at pepperdine.edu>*
Personal: mark.scarberry at gmail.com




On Sat, Aug 15, 2020 at 11:01 AM Jeff Hauser <jeffhauser at gmail.com> wrote:

> 1. That a policy might be applied generally and more broadly than
> necessary to achieve its specific ends is... unsurprising?
> 2. It's not conspiratorial to take the president's words literally and/or
> seriously.
> 3.  I added some highlights here, but this graphic from the Washington
> Post is... not Portland Oregon heavy at all.
> [image: image.png]
>
>
> https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/usps-states-delayed-mail-in-ballots/2020/08/14/64bf3c3c-dcc7-11ea-8051-d5f887d73381_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-high_uspsstates-230pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory-ans
>
> On Sat, Aug 15, 2020 at 1:39 PM Ilya Shapiro <IShapiro at cato.org> wrote:
>
>> Yes, clearly Trump is going to win Oregon by removing mailboxes.
>> Sometimes you have to check your premises. Indeed, all these fights over
>> mail-in/absentee balloting are a phony war because none of the extreme
>> policies either way are in competitive states (with the possible exception
>> of Nevada).
>>
>> Ilya Shapiro
>> Director
>> Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies
>> Cato Institute
>> 1000 Mass. Ave. NW
>> Washington, DC 20001
>> (o) 202-218-4600
>> (c) 202-577-1134
>> Twitter: @ishapiro
>>
>> http://www.cato.org/people/shapiro.html
>>
>> On Aug 15, 2020, at 1:33 PM, RuthAlice Anderson <
>> ruthalice.anderson at comcast.net> wrote:
>>
>> 
>>
>> *CAUTION: External Email*
>>
>>
>>
>> Here in Portland they have been removing mailboxes. It is a fiction that
>> they only removed mailboxes from places that had two. There was only one as
>> you can see in this photo memorializing the mailbox removed about 20 blocks
>> east of my home. Portlanders have planted flowers in potholes, so this is
>> not surprising.
>>
>> RuthAlice
>>
>>
>>
>> <B85E474F885842C7BB2136EDA77339B4.jpg>
>>
>> <B85E474F885842C7BB2136EDA77339B4.jpg>
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