Clark County residents rallied outside two local post offices Saturday morning to show support for the United States Postal Service and demand an end to recent policy changes the agency has implemented under Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.
The local rallies were part of a nationwide action titled “Save the Post Office Saturday,” organized by MoveOn.org, the NAACP and several labor unions and activist groups. More than 800 rallies were planned in total, according to a map on the event’s website.
The two local events were held at the downtown Vancouver post office and the Orchards post office. The downtown event drew more than 50 people, and the organizer of the Orchards rally, Mary Laski, said it drew more than 40.
The USPS has been at the center of a growing controversy over a series of operational policy changes instituted under DeJoy, who took office June 15 and has argued that the new directives are part of a necessary effort to streamline the agency and resolve its precarious financial position.
The changes include an end to postal staff overtime and a policy prohibiting mail carriers from making return trips to distribution centers, instead leaving late-arriving mail to be delivered the following day, as well as changes to retail hours at post offices.
The policies have also involved decommissioning some mail sorting machines, removing some mailboxes and consolidating operations to a smaller number of distribution centers. USPS has said that the removals have only trimmed excess capacity, although DeJoy acknowledged last week that the changes have impacted service levels.
Downtown rally
Attendees at the downtown event lined up along both sides of Columbia Street behind the post office, drawing honks of approval from passing cars. Many protesters held signs calling for an end to postal service cuts and criticizing DeJoy and President Donald Trump.
Several attendees called for DeJoy to resign, citing what they characterized as a conflict of interest due to his history as a fundraiser for Trump and his continuing stake in his former company, USPS contractor XPO Logistics.
Many attendees said they had already begun to experience negative impacts from the service changes in the past two months.
“Usually it takes 5 to 7 days for my V.A. drugs to get here,” said protester Ed Carthell. “In the last month and a half, it’s been taking upward of two weeks.”
Another attendee, Carly Danielson, said she began to experience delayed mail before she found out about the policy changes, when a car tab renewal notice didn’t arrive until after the expiration deadline had already passed.
Other attendees described similar delays, both for less-consequential mail such as birthday cards and for essential packages like medication. The impacts were unexpected, according to attendee Connie Hewitt, without enough warning to begin ordering medication sooner.
“I end up right up to the line of desperation before my meds get there,” she said.
Many attendees also focused on the role of the postal service in facilitating vote-by-mail, echoing recent comments from Democratic lawmakers and officials accusing DeJoy and Trump of implementing the service changes in an effort to disrupt mail-in ballots and interfere in the November general election.
“The whole country is going to count on vote-by-mail, and we need it to be safe and equitable and fair,” said Madeleine von Laue, one of the local organizers of the downtown event.
Mike Ellison, the other organizer of the local event, said he and von Laue heard about the national event a few days earlier through MoveOn, and rushed to create a local counterpart.
About 45 minutes after the 11 a.m. start time, von Laue and Ellison led the group on an impromptu march down the street to Esther Short Park, where the protesters gathered for the remainder of the event.
Nationwide impact
The postal service changes have resulted in slowed deliveries and other disruptions to the postal service nationwide, and Democratic Party lawmakers and other critics have contended that the policies are designed to interfere with mail-in voting efforts and disrupt the general election in November.
Many states have been working to expand mail-in voting options this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In recent weeks Trump has repeatedly claimed – with no evidence – that increased use of vote-by-mail would lead to voter fraud.
There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud in U.S. elections, nor is there any evidence of widespread voter fraud among states that hold their elections through all-mail voting. Washington has used all-mail voting since 2011, and Oregon has used it since 1998.
Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced Tuesday that he would lead a coalition of states to file a lawsuit in federal court to challenge the operational changes “that threaten critical mail delivery and could undermine the national election in November.” The lawsuit argues that DeJoy implemented the changes unlawfully.
Some Republican lawmakers have also criticized DeJoy’s policies, although they typically haven’t characterized the changes as a specific effort by Trump and DeJoy to disrupt the election.
In an Aug. 17 letter, Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Battle Ground, urged DeJoy to immediately change course to address mail delays. She discussed the importance of the postal service for rural residents and senior citizens and said she did not want to see her efforts to protect those services “undermined by poorly executed cost-cutting measures.”
DeJoy announced Tuesday that he would halt all planned Postal Service changes until after the national election Nov. 3, although media reports since then have indicated that the changes that have already been carried out, such as the removal of the sorting machines, will not be rolled back.
