By K.D. Norris
U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mi) on Tuesday visited a U.S. Postal Office (USPS) processing facility on Patterson Avenue SE in Grand Rapids to see first-hand the causes of slowdowns, delays and backlogs he says are occurring in communities across the country.
After the Aug. 25 tour and at a media opportunity at the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Branch 56 in nearby Kentwood, Sen. Peters stressed that his concerns — and the investigation of postal service changes he has recently initiated as ranking Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee — are not solely about the pending November election.
He said that postal service operational changes are preventing veterans from receiving timely delivery of their prescription medications through the Department of Veterans Affairs’ mail-order pharmacy service. He also said he has heard firsthand that delays are directly impacting small businesses in West Michigan and across the county.
However, answering a question from WKTV, he expressed confidence in the ability of local city and township clerks — in Wyoming and Kentwood and statewide — to reliably count the ballots they will receive, but he also expressed some concerns about “possible” delays in the handling mail-in ballots.
“What we are seeing right now, that concerns me, because of the delays we have been hearing,” Sen. Peters said, adding that he had also been told about delays in mail-in ballots getting to voters from the city clerk in his hometown of Bloomfield Hills.
He also, though, gave advice on how Wyoming and Kentwood voters can avoid any issue with possible postal delays in mail-on ballots — request and acquire the ballots early, mail them early or drop them off directly at the local clerks’ offices. (See his entire statement at this video link.)
Last week, Sen. Peters, who is running for election to the Senate against Republican challenger John James as well as other independent candidates, led a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing with Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. DeJoy, who became Postmaster General two months ago, was questioned on the policy and operational changes possibly resulting in delayed mail across the country.
