What Letters to Santa Can Teach Us about Mail-in Voting

If we wish to have a fair and safe election during a pandemic, the U.S. Post Office is up to the task

By Brett Pelham, PhD

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, questions have been raised about mail-in voting. Opponents of mail-in voting argue that it is open to widespread fraud. They also argue that, even if mail-in voting were reliable, it would overwhelm the struggling United States Post Office (USPS). Neither of these claims is true. Let’s begin with the USPS.

The United States Postal Service (USPS) Can Handle Mail-In Voting. In December of 2019, the United States Postal Service handled about 15 billion pieces of holiday mail. That’s 15 billion, with a B. I’m pretty sure they can handle 50–140 million mail-in ballots spread out over several weeks in September, October, and early November. Of course, they can’t do so very quickly if the current Postmaster General, Louis DeJoy, keeps slowing down U.S. mail delivery. DeJoy is a major Trump campaign donor who has political and financial conflicts of interest running the USPS.

Mail-In Voting Will Save Lives. It’s hard to say exactly how many lives will be saved by mail-in rather than in-person voting. We don’t yet know how many people will vote in person…