WASHINGTON, DC (WTAQ-WLUK) — Wisconsin lawmakers are reacting to changes being made at the post office.
A number of cost-saving measures, which include removing collection boxes and taking letter-sorting machines offline, have been made in the past several months. That’s drawn criticism from some lawmakers, who say the changes are meant to disrupt an election which is expected to involve record amounts of mail-in balloting.
Last week Postmaster General Louis DeJoy paused the changes until after the election. But in testimony before Congress, DeJoy said he has no intention of reversing changes that have already been made.
6th district Republican congressman Glenn Grothman says getting rid of a number of sorting machines, a move panned by Democrats, actually makes sense.
“There’s less old fashion mail and there are more packages, so it’s not surprising the shift has been made. But the Postmaster General had assured us there will be no more big changes going up the election and I’m sure they’ll be in good shape,” Grothman said.
In April’s election, an unknown number of Oshkosh voters said they never received absentee ballots at their address. The city says it mailed the ballots out.
DeJoy testified before Congress Friday.
“We’ve heard about the sorters. You addressed that earlier. Will you be bringing back any mail sorting machines that have been removed since you became postmaster general? Will any of them come back?” Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., asked DeJoy.
“There’s no intention to do that. They’re not needed sir,” he replied.
In a letter to Postmaster General DeJoy, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., called for the reversal of changes that were made ahead of November’s election.
“I’ve heard from hundreds upon hundreds of Wisconsinites about concerns and experiences where they’ve had interruptions and delays in their mail service,” Baldwin told WLUK.
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said Friday he’s not concerned.
“As long as election officials factor in normal postal delivery capabilities, the postal system has more than enough excess capacity to handle mail in balloting,” Johnson said.
So, what happens next?
Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul has joined 13 other states in a lawsuit against the Postal Service.
“We’re going to keep looking into this and keep pursuing if necessary a legal order that would bind him to reverse those changes,” Kaul said.
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