It’s here! The election season is in full swing. Starting with the Democratic National Convention this week and to be followed by the Republican National Convention beginning on Aug. 24. And then, of course, the debates! All of this sums up to two-and-half months of mud-slinging, half-truths, promises made that can’t or won’t be kept, and every media outlet flooded with ads costing enough money to pay off the national debt (or at least enough to make a sizeable dent in it). But this is, after all, democracy at its finest giving each of us a right to voice our opinions. How we do that is another matter altogether.

The manner in which the next president of the United States will be elected is shaping up to be one of the strangest in history. With the legitimate concerns about the spread of COVID causing states to struggle with the how, when, where and “IF” to conduct in-person or mail-in voting, and with the anger that has taken over our country, the 2000 election fiasco of Florida’s “hanging chads” will be nothing by comparison.

The reports of probable election interference by China and Russia are making their rounds. Voter suppression and fraud theories are emanating from both political camps, and the United States Postal Service is under scrutiny.

How has the USPS become front and center in this election? “Our Postal Service should not become an instrument of partisan politics, but instead must be protected as a neutral, independent entity that focuses on one thing and one thing only–delivering the mail,” Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney stated when speaking of the Coronavirus Bill being debated in Washington.

Is it fair to say that the USPS is being used as a political pawn by the current administration? Or is the hyperbole coming out of Washington on both sides of the aisle merely a smokescreen hiding the slight-of-hand? To be honest, the financial problems facing the United States Post Office have been going on for quite some time. Even before the current pandemic, it has been reported that the USPS lost over $8 million in 2019, and going as far back as 2005, there were even more issues due to poor management of the postal service with even more millions of dollars lost. Not that today is any better with current Postmaster General, Louis DeJoy; many would say it is worse. They could be right.

DeJoy has taken the proverbial ax to the operating procedures of the USPS. He put an end to the overtime, and has been quoted as saying, “if we cannot deliver all the mail due to call offs or shortage of people and you have no other help, the mail will not go out.” Where is the Pony Express and its motto when we need it? What happened to “The Mail Must Go Through”? Even with the protests to his recent actions, DeJoy is promising more sweeping changes to the USPS.

This past week there have been reports that mail sorting machines located in strategic cities across the country have been re-allocated to other areas. The concerns being voiced by postal workers, democrats and others is that these actions were in compliance with the president’s attempt to prohibit, or at least limit, mail-in voting.

With his support of DeJoy and his actions, is President Trump intentionally sabotaging the mail-in voting process? President Trump appeared on Fox Business News and said, “They need that money in order to have the post office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots,” adding, “if they don’t get the funds, that means you can’t have universal mail-in voting because they’re not equipped to have it. If the (coronavirus) bill isn’t gonna get done, that’s gonna mean the Post Office isn’t gonna get funded … so, I don’t know how you could possibly use these ballots, these mail-in ballots.”

So where are we and where will we be Nov. 3? Will we know who our next president will be come January 2021? Those in charge of the election process on both the national and local levels for voters who are planning to vote by mail advise, “request ballots early and return them as soon as possible.” We don’t know yet what will be happening in our area – we do know we have local as well as national candidates vying for offices of leadership; voting is a responsibility!

I will leave you with a quote from Franklin D. Roosevelt, “Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.”

We have fewer than 12 weeks to fact check the candidates and learn what they stand for. Whether you vote by mail or in person, vote responsibility!

Have a great day.

Vicki Westling is a Dunkirk resident. Send comments to editorial@observertoday.com