Sunday, 16 August 2020_Protesters from the group, Shutdown DC, banged on drums, pots and pans and chanted outside the residence of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy in Washington DC on Saturday (August 15).
The protest comes amid an investigation by the postal service's internal watchdog into cost cutting that has slowed delivery and alarmed lawmakers ahead of a presidential election when up to half of US voters could cast ballots by mail.
The Postal Service's inspector general also will examine possible conflicts of interest involving new Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who has donated $2.7 million to President Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans, according to Saloni Sharma, a spokeswoman for Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, who requested the investigation.
DeJoy owns millions of dollars in stock in Postal Service rivals and customers, according to a financial disclosure form filed by his wife. Election officials have scrambled to prepare for a deluge of mail ballots as Americans avoid public gatherings due to the Coronavirus pandemic, which has prompted many states to make it easier to vote by mail.
The Postal Service itself has gotten pulled into a political fight, with Republican President Donald Trump on Thursday saying he objected to providing funds for the struggling service or mail voting as part of a Coronavirus relief package.
Trump, who is trailing Democratic rival Joe Biden in opinion polls, has railed against widespread mail voting, saying without evidence that it could lead to fraud. Biden and other top Democrats have accused Trump of trying to discourage mail voting because he believes doing so would boost his re-election chances.
Source: Reuters
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