Current:Home > MarketsUS Postal Service plans to downsize a mail hub in Nevada. What does that mean for mail-in ballots?-Angel Dreamer Wealth Society D1 Reviews & Insights
US Postal Service plans to downsize a mail hub in Nevada. What does that mean for mail-in ballots?
View Date:2024-12-23 23:27:59
RENO, Nev. (AP) — A U.S. Postal Service plan to downsize a regional mail hub in Reno and move package and letter processing to Sacramento, California, has members of Nevada’s congressional delegation and the state’s top election administrator worried about service delays and mail-in ballot handling.
The elected officials point to a lack of transparency in what Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has cast as a money-saving move, and say they’re concerned that mail service will be snarled by the hourslong roundtrip drive over the Sierra Nevada.
“There is also the matter of Nevada’s mail ballots being taken to California for processing before being returned to Nevada and their voters,” Nevada Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar said in a protest letter.
Every active registered voter in Nevada is sent a mail ballot. If the change moves forward, Aguilar said it may not be possible for ballots placed in the mail in central and northern Nevada on Election Day to be postmarked the same day.
Processing returned votes out of state “has the potential to disenfranchise thousands of Nevada voters and would unquestionably impact the results of Nevada’s elections,” he wrote.
Aguilar, a Democrat, also cited obstacles including a blizzard that swept into the steep mountain range between Nevada and California over the weekend, closing Interstate 80 for several days. His letter called it “not irregular” at any time of the year for the freeway, the main route between Reno and Sacramento, to be closed due to weather or vehicle crashes.
“The USPS standard for local Reno mail received and delivered is two days, a standard which USPS has already struggled to meet,” Nevada Democratic U.S. Sens. Jacky Rosen and Catherine Cortez Masto and Republican U.S. Rep. Mark Amodei said in a Wednesday letter to DeJoy. “Sending Nevadans’ mail to California does not seem like a promising way of improving this deficiency.”
The letter accused the Postal Service of failing to show how it shaped its plan or “provide any analysis on local impacts of moving mail processing” from Reno to Sacramento. It sought DeJoy’s response by March 15.
Rosen on Friday called reliable on-time mail delivery of medication and Social Security checks crucial for seniors, military veterans and families.
Amodei represents northern Nevada, where mail from a vast eight-county area and the state capital, Carson City, is currently processed and distributed at a Reno facility that would be downsized to a local processing center under a 10-year, $40 billion Postal Service modernization plan to establish 60 regional processing and distribution centers across the U.S.
DeJoy was appointed in May 2020 by former Republican President Donald Trump. He faced criticism about sweeping Postal Service policy changes ahead of the November 2020 election and has defended his agency’s ability to deliver mail-in ballots amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Postal Service spokesman Rod Spurgeon confirmed by email Friday that the agency received the Nevada Congress members’ letter and said a response would go directly to them.
“The business case supports transferring some mail processing operations” to Sacramento, the Postal Service said in a Feb. 6 document outlining the Reno office downsizing, which it projected could save up to $4.2 million per year. A period for public comment ended Wednesday. Spurgeon added Friday that findings were preliminary and declined to specify other states where similar plans are being made.
In Wyoming, complaints have arisen among critics who say shifting Postal Service processing from Cheyenne to Denver and from Casper to Billings, Montana, would leave Wyoming without a mail processing facility.
Spurgeon said letters and packages currently processed in Reno would go to Sacramento and be returned to Reno for delivery within the standard two days. The current facility in Reno serves a sprawling Postal Service area home to 22% of Nevada’s population. Rural areas vote solidly Republican, while Washoe County and Reno narrowly favored Democratic President Joe Biden in 2020. Other regional postal hubs in Nevada are in Elko and the Las Vegas area.
Washoe County commissioners voted last week to oppose the Post Office downsizing, the Reno Gazette Journal reported, and the interim head of the county elections department told the newspaper she would discourage voters from mailing ballots if the plan becomes final.
“I wouldn’t even put it in the mail,” interim county Registrar Cari-Ann Burgess said. “I would drop it off at one of our vote centers.”
veryGood! (6)
Related
- Dallas Long, who won 2 Olympic medals while dominating the shot put in the 1960s, has died at 84
- Ricky Gervais Mourns Death of Office Costar Ewen MacIntosh
- Jury selection begins for trial of “Rust” armorer in fatal 2021 shooting by Alec Baldwin
- Southern California shopping center closed following reports of explosion
- Whoopi Goldberg calling herself 'a working person' garners criticism from 'The View' fans
- Senate conservatives press for full Mayorkas impeachment trial
- Ricky Gervais Mourns Death of Office Costar Ewen MacIntosh
- How Sophie Turner Moved On After Her Divorce From Joe Jonas
- Congress is revisiting UFOs: Here's what's happened since last hearing on extraterrestrials
- 'NBA on TNT' analyst Kenny Smith doubles down on Steph vs. Sabrina comments
Ranking
- Wildfires burn on both coasts. Is climate change to blame?
- Master All Four Elements With This Avatar: The Last Airbender Gift Guide
- Solange toys with the idea of a tuba album: 'I can only imagine the eye rolls'
- Stock market today: Asian stocks mixed after tech shares pull Wall Street lower
- After entire police force resigns in small Oklahoma town, chief blames leaders, budget cuts
- Ye spotted wearing full face mask in Italy with Bianca Censori, Ty Dolla $ign: See the photos
- Angel Reese won't re-up case for Bayou Barbie trademark after being denied
- Ghost gun manufacturer agrees to stop sales to Maryland residents
Recommendation
-
Research reveals China has built prototype nuclear reactor to power aircraft carrier
-
Beyoncé becomes first Black woman to claim top spot on Billboard’s country music chart
-
When does 'The Amazing Race' start? Season 36 premiere date, host, where to watch
-
LAPD releases body cam video of officer fatally shooting UCLA grad holding a plastic fork
-
The Army’s answer to a lack of recruits is a prep course to boost low scores. It’s working
-
California’s Oil Country Hopes Carbon Management Will Provide Jobs. It May Be Disappointed
-
First there were AI chatbots. Now AI assistants can order Ubers and book vacations
-
Disaster follows an astronaut back to Earth in the thriller 'Constellation'