To the Editor:

As a longtime member of our local League of Women Voters, which has always promoted free and fair elections, I am outraged by the recent moves by this administration to curtail the services of the United States Postal System. Whether you are a Republican, Democrat or Independent, you too should be outraged.

The slowdown of services; cutting hours, personnel, sorting machines, etc, is nothing more than a move to disempower the voters who want to send their ballots in by mail rather than risk going to the polls. President Trump says these are cost cutting measures and that mail in voting creates fraud.

In fact, the slowdown does nothing more than disenfranchise the voter so that many votes will arrive too late to be counted. Then, what about the prescriptions, paychecks and important letters that will also be held up? For many people living in rural areas the postal service is a critical link in their lives.

I urge everyone to get a mail-in ballot ASAP, as the deadline is Aug. 26 and it needs to be returned before Sept. 1, primary day. You can also vote absentee by going to your Town Hall, as there are additional hours set up for doing that. You can check your town website or go to the League’s site, 411.org, for further information. In addition, in Marion, there are two drop boxes outside the Town Hall for your ballots. Other towns do the same.

Furthermore, you can support your local Post Office by buying stamps and doing all your mailing there (it has been said that if everyone bought $20 worth of stamps, that would go a long way to meeting the deficit). In many small towns like Marion, the Post Office serves a central part of the community, where neighbor meets neighbor.

So please exercise your right to vote by getting your ballot, urging your legislator to defend the USPS and telling your neighbors to do the same. “Democracy is not a spectator sport.”

Thank you,
Margie Baldwin
Marion