U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin speaks to an employee at a U.S. Postal Service sorting center in South Charleston. (Photo Provided)

CHARLESTON — After spending several days touring U.S. Postal Service facilities in West Virginia, U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said his bill to keep post offices open during the COVID-19 pandemic is vital as the new Postmaster General reverses his plans for cuts.

“The United States Post Office’s support, or lack of support, from this administration is beyond my wildest belief that this could even happen in America,” Manchin said. “It’s the lifeline of most West Virginians and especially in rural America and all over this country.”

Manchin spoke with reporters Tuesday about his recent tour and the Protect Our Services Today (P.O.S.T.) Act, a bill Manchin has co-sponsored with U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., which mandates the USPS cannot close post offices during the pandemic.

“All it says … is you’re not going to close any post offices during this pandemic, you’re not going to cut back hours, you’re not going to take machines offline that are there to process the mail in a timely fashion,” Manchin said. “These are the things we are fighting for … it’s a shame we’re at loggerheads and our leadership can’t get its act together.”

Manchin visited four postal facilities in West Virginia Friday, and visited a distribution center in South Charleston Monday, where he witnessed three mail sorting machines out of service and another sorter on its way to be placed out of service. Manchin wrote a letter to U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy demanding that the sorters be put back into service.

As a U.S. senator since 2010, Manchin has long used his congressional platform to fight against closures of post offices in West Virginia, particularly in rural areas. In 2011, Manchin was able to successfully lobby against the closure of 150 post offices in West Virginia. Former President Barack Obama was an advocate for cutting Saturday deliveries in order to cut down on expenses due to the decrease in first-class mail.

Manchin’s recent focus on post offices is due to memos placed in five post offices in West Virginia warning of closures by the end of August. The Postal Service confirmed that the memos were a mistake, but that they were looking at a review of post offices, with 12 facilities being reviewed and another 24 that could have hours reduced, though there have been no details releases about the locations.

DeJoy has received criticisms for cutting overtime for postal workers, waiting to deliver late-arriving mail until the next day, removing the iconic blue post boxes from street corners, and pulling sorting machines from some distribution facilities in order to cut costs. According to stats from the Postal Service, the amount of first-class mail volume has been cut in half over the last 20 years, from 101,937 pieces to 54,943 pieces in 2019.

President Donald Trump poured fuel on the fire last week by claiming to withhold additional funding for the Postal Service in protest of states moving to mail-in voting for the general election. Manchin expressed his anger at the President for not supporting the Postal Service.

“Mr. President, please quit villainizing an institution that helped build America,” Manchin said. “Please, be part of this great democracy of ours … and make sure you defend it like you’ve taken an oath to the Constitution to protect and defend. I want you to know the United States Postal Service, and all these wonderful employees that everyone loves and has all the confidence in, they deserve our undying and unwavering support.”

Shortly after Manchin’s conference, the U.S. Postal Service announced that would suspend all cost-cutting measure until after the November elections.

“…There are some longstanding operational initiatives – efforts that predate my arrival at the Postal Service – that have been raised as areas of concern as the nation prepares to hold an election in the midst of a devastating pandemic,” DeJoy said in a statement. “To avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail, I am suspending these initiatives until after the election is concluded.”

The U.S. House of Representatives is returning to Capitol Hill Friday to vote on a $25 billion funding proposal. The U.S. Senate will hear testimony from DeJoy on Friday as well before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee.

According to Government Executive, which covers the internal workings of government, the U.S.P.S. sought more than $75 million to offset losses due to the coronavirus pandemic prior to DeJoy becoming the new Postmaster General in May. At the same time, postal officials said they had the funds necessary to operate as normal through August 2021.

Yet, the Postal Service warned 46 states last week that it could not guarantee that all absentee ballots mailed for the Tuesday, Nov. 3, general election would arrive on time to be counted. Concerns have been raised about the ability of the Postal Service to handle the likely substantial increase in mail-in absentee ballots leading up to the general election.

The New York Times estimates that nearly 80 million absentee ballots could be cast this election, which is double the number of ballots cast in the 2016 general election. According to Government Executive, the Postal Service has the capacity to handle the possible influx.

“Paul Steidler, a senior fellow with the Lexington Institute, noted that even if 60 percent of the electorate votes by mail it would only lead to about a 1 percent increase in the Postal Service’s normal delivery volume,” wrote reporter Eric Katz. “The Postal Service itself estimated mailed-in ballots would account for 2 percent of the agency’s volume between September and the Nov. 3 election.”

Manchin pushed back on the idea that there is enough capacity in West Virginia to sort mail-in absentee ballots, pointing to the consolidation of sorting facilities in the state. West Virginia has USPS sort facilities in South Charleston and Buckhannon, though facilities once existed in Parkersburg, Petersburg, Clarksburg, Martinsburg, Wheeling, Huntington, Beckley, and Bluefield.

“Why would you make another adjustment when you’re going to have the largest amount of mail-in voters you’ve ever had because of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Manchin asked. “These are unusual times, and I think it warrants keeping the sourcing machines we already have.”

West Virginia voters can request an absentee ballot by citing the pandemic as a valid medical excuse. Voters can apply for an absentee ballot through their local county clerk, by downloading the application and mailing it in, or visiting GoVoteWV.com and applying online for an absentee ballot.

According to the West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office, 14,249 voters have applied online for their absentee ballot since Tuesday morning, while 5,243 have mailed their applications to their county clerks.

During the June 9 primary election, half of the 37 percent of West Virginians who cast ballots did so by absentee ballots — 224,777 votes in all, or 18 percent of the state’s 1.2 million registered voters. But turnout is traditionally higher in a general election during a presidential election.

Wednesday, Oct. 8, is the deadline to request an absentee ballot. The deadline to deliver an absentee ballot to a county clerk’s office is Monday, Nov. 2. The deadline for absentee ballots to be received without a postmark is Wednesday, Nov. 4.