Statement from APWU President Mark Dimondstein on U.S. President Donald Trump’s Advocating Postponement of November Presidential Election

Over the last four months, U.S. President Donald Trump has publicly criticized “vote by mail” over seventy (70) times, claiming it leads to corruption and massive voter fraud. The history and facts prove otherwise. “Vote by mail” is private, secure and has provided access to the ballot box for millions of voters, including President Trump and his family members who routinely vote by mail. Independent studies have determined that since 2000, more than 250 million votes have been cast by mail, including 31 million in the 2018 election, virtually absent of fraud. Oregon state has conducted all elections by mail for 19 years and with over 100 million ballots cast there have been only 15 cases of voter fraud!

Postal workers have been serving the “vote by mail” needs of U.S. citizens for generations including for overseas military personnel and their families. We proudly do so as a civic duty regardless of who voters are casting their ballots for. 

The furious attacks on the Postal Service and postal workers reached a new level on July 30th when the current U.S. President, who is running for re-election, raised postponing the November election based on the unfounded claims of massive “vote by mail” fraud. Never in the history of the United States, even in times of World War, has a national election been postponed.

This assault on the U.S. Constitution, our democratic rights and the ongoing attempt to discredit “vote-by-mail” and demonize postal workers is wrong and heads us down a dangerous path toward dictatorship.

President Donald Trump’s raising postponement of the upcoming November presidential election has been rightly and quickly rejected by political leaders in both major parties. On behalf of the 200,000 APWU postal workers and retirees, proud public servants of many political persuasions, I join in adding our voice in that chorus.

The mission of the public Postal Service is to “bind the nation together” and to provide “prompt, reliable and efficient service” to all communities with uniform and reasonable rates. Our tremendous dedication to the people and the postal mission has been underscored by the essential frontline work of postal workers in the challenging and dangerous times of the pandemic. 

During this pandemic, anyone who believes in the right to vote should enthusiastically embrace voting by mail. Without it, tens of millions of voters will be denied the opportunity to safely exercise their cherished right to vote. 

When postal workers go to work every day, our commitment is not to politicians or political parties, it’s to the people in every community across this country who we are proud to serve in this election season and for years to come.