Published 11:29 IST, August 15th 2020
Obama says he worries about Trump's efforts to 'actively kneecap' US Postal Service
Obama is ‘worried’ about protecting the integrity of the upcoming November elections in view of efforts by Donald Trump to ‘actively kneecap’ the USPS funding.
The former US President Barack Obama is ‘worried’ about protecting the integrity of the upcoming November elections in view of efforts by Donald Trump to ‘actively kneecap’ the Postal Services to limit Americans voting by mail during COVID-19 pandemic. While the US President Donald Trump continues to send mixed signals about his willingness to fund the USPS, Obama reportedly said that Trump is ‘explicitly’ trying to ‘discourage’ people from voting.
While speaking at a podcast, the former president said that Republicans have ‘actively discouraged’ voter turnout. He explained that when citizens vote, the country makes progress, however, he added that when they don’t then the vacuum is filled by people who are only interested in protecting their own power. Further, Obama urged specifically ‘young people’, who usually vote in lower numbers, to take part in the election.
Obama’s statement comes after Trump said that he was blocking Democrat’s efforts to include funds for the Postal Service in a new coronavirus relief bill in a bid to stop universal mail-in voting. The US President has rallied against mail-in ballots. He believes that it could lead to fraud during the election.
Trump sends mixed signals
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed apprehension that counting of mailed ballots could take weeks and hampers the results, leading to a compromised poll. Trump earlier also suggested that increased postal voting in November could lead to fraud and inaccurate results. However, in a recent news conference, the US President said that that he is willing to allocate billions of dollars towards the funding of the US Postal Service as a part of the coronavirus relief package if the Democrats are prepared to make concessions on White House priorities.
The mail-in voting involves the states to send automated postal ballots to all the registered voters which then have to be returned by the citizens or dropped off on election day. While there is no evidence of any widespread fraud in the mail-in votes, critics of the method have reportedly argued that citizens can vote more than once through absentee ballots.
(Image: AP)
Updated 11:29 IST, August 15th 2020