Ryan Nicol
House Democratic Leader Kionne McGhee is looking for answers after posting video footage from a southern Miami-Dade County post office showing a backlog of mail. Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle now says an audit will begin to ensure voters’ ballots are delivered.
McGee’s footage shows several bins of mail scattered throughout the facility in Princeton, Florida. McGhee said he received a video from a source showing the Friday backlog and that some of the bins contain mail ballots.
Raw footage of mailroom in post office here in Miami Dade. Source revealed “mail in ballots are within these piled up in bins on the floor. Mail has been sitting for over week!.” @AmandiOnAir @PeterSchorschFL @MarcACaputo @GlennaWPLG @CNNPolitics @NewsbySmiley @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/DO8jx1VUnz
— Kionne “Commish” McGhee (@kionnemcghee) October 30, 2020
It’s unclear how many ballots are included in those bins or whether the backlog will stop postal workers from delivering those ballots by Tuesday’s deadline. Still, McGhee said he’s seeking additional information about how the backlog is being handled and blamed USPS leadership for the delay.
“I am shocked, I am disappointed, and I am angry at what I saw in the video,” McGhee said.
“We all know that Post Master General [Louis] DeJoy has been trying to enact so-called cost cutting measures, and we all know they have slowed down the ability of our postal workers to do their jobs. I’m not alone in finding the timing suspicious. I call on the Postal Service to correct this and promise the citizens of Miami-Dade that these ballots will be delivered in time.”
McGhee also called on top state officials to ensure “every valid vote in Florida is counted.”
Late Friday, State Attorney Rundle announced she had “requested that all postal distribution centers be audited and any and all ballots that may remain in these centers be immediately transported to the Department of Elections.”
Analysis of vote-by-mail returns has seen delays in deliveries in the Homestead area, which is near the Princeton facility in question.
According to the Miami Herald, Mark Travers — the South Florida president for the National Association of Letter Carriers — said he’s been aware of the backlog since last week and that postal officials are working to correct the issue.
“They said they’ll be current by [Saturday],” Travers told the Herald. “I’m not sure I believe that.”
Christian Ulvert, a senior advisor for the Daniella Levine Cava county mayoral campaign, also called for assurances the ballots will be “delivered on time and counted.”
Added Ulvert, “The public must be assured the Supervisor of Elections office is working with the USPS to guarantee that all ballots are being delivered on time and counted. Voters deserve a full explanation and total transparency on the status of their votes. Anything else is unacceptable.”
Michael McDonald, a University of Florida political science professor and one of the nation’s leading analysts on the election vote tally, posted about the delay’s potential implications following McGhee’s Friday remarks. He argued the backlog likely means the Democrat’s lead in the early vote is larger than being reported, given the voter breakdown of the area and Democrats’ tendency to rely disproportionately on mail-in voting this cycle.
“If it is really close on election night, we might need to see how these ballots break,” McDonald added. “These ballots need to get back to the election office by Election Day. Unconscionable if they are not delivered and the Supreme Court decides they don’t count.”
Democratic U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell also released a statement on the issue Friday evening.
“Earlier today, I inspected this facility and took immediate action to contact the US Postal Service and the USPS Office of the Inspector General,” Mucarsel-Powell said. “I have requested an immediate briefing from the Postmaster General. I am working to ensure that mail delays do not impact participation in this election.”
3 comments
S B ANTHONY
October 30, 2020 at 5:34 pm
Absolutely outrageous! DeJoy must go…NOW!
Throw him out with the other trash on Tuesday.
DisplacedCTYankee
October 31, 2020 at 7:12 am
The USPS is the largest employer in the U.S. I wonder how many of them will vote for President Shithead?
I mailed my Manatee County ballot weeks ago and it’s long since been received, opened, counted, according to the county web site.
In an election like this where the choice(s) are so clear, why do so many people wait until the last minute to vote by by whatever means? What’s the big deal about voting in person? That those damn Yankees did it 200 years ago on the village square? Here, the village square is a car dealership.
Roy
October 31, 2020 at 9:50 am
It seems, according to this article, those ballots have been sitting there for a couple of weeks. Those people voted early enough. They can’t help that the Postmaster General is doing everything he can to suppress the vote by not delivering ballots from Democrat heavy areas!
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