BOSTON (WHDH) - In Boston, city leaders are raising the alarm over postal problems, saying mail service is falling behind in several neighborhoods – and expressing concern it could impact voting by mail.
Several members of the Boston City Council reported hearing from people in areas all over Boston who said the mail is not reliable and that they want something done to address it. In response, councilors are calling for an emergency declaration over what they called inefficient postal service in neighborhoods.
Councilors said people in Mission Hill, Roxbury, Dorchester, Brighton, and Mattapan are getting their mail late or not at all.
“Residents are missing critical communications including legal and financial documents,” said councilor Sharon Durkan. “Some of our most vulnerable neighbors are not receiving vital medications on time.”
The councilors said the inadequate service is not just an inconvenience, it’s a violation of federal law.
“We’re entering or we’re in an election season and more and more people are voting mail,” said councilor Benjamin Weber. “We need every vote to count to make sure our postal service is working correctly.”
Nationally, the postal service said it’s prepared for election season.
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy pledged Thursday that the USPS will implement “extraordinary measures” to ensure the timely delivery of mail-in voting.
Boston City Councilors said they need help from congressional representatives and U.S. Senators to restore reliable service to the people of Boston.
“We cannot allow postal inefficiencies to become a form of voter suppression,” Durkan said.
In a statement, a representative from the USPS’ Atlantic Area Northeast Region said the organization “is aware of a minor employee availability issue last week that we have resolved” in Boston, and that mail service is “current and within service performance standards”.
“For FY24 Q4 to date, 96.87 percent of all First-Class Mail in Massachusetts arrives within a day of the service standard,” USPS said. “On average, mail in the state is delivered in 2.5 days. We are also in the process of recruiting, evaluating and hiring qualified candidates for vacancies in the area with postings on our website.”
The organization said they use a “robust and proven” process for all election mail, including ballots.
“In 2024, just as we have in previous elections, we will deploy longstanding processes and procedures, as well as allocating additional resources, including, but not limited to, expanded processing procedures, extra transportation, extra delivery and collection trips, and overtime, to ensure that Election Mail reaches its intended destination in a timely manner,” they said.
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