FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
August 20, 2020
CONTACT: press@iava.org

Washington, DC – In an op-ed for Military Times, Jeremy Butler, CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, and Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, urge support for the United States Postal Service and our elections – two key parts of our democracy. The leaders urge Congress to hold the administration accountable and demand accountability from Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. 

“We must ensure that harmful action already taken will be rectified, and that decommissioned sorting machines and mailboxes, critical for managing increased volume during the election, will be restored. There is no room for debate: we need a functioning postal service to keep the wheels of society turning and empower Americans to vote, especially during a pandemic,” wrote Butler and Gupta.

“The recent attacks on our postal system undermine the public’s confidence for those who choose to vote by mail when they should do so without hesitation,” the leaders continued. “This is true even though America is no stranger to mail-in voting. The U.S. military has been voting by mail since the Civil War, when Union soldiers cast their ballot while serving far from home. Through the years, on bases from Alaska to Hawaii and on every overseas installation, the Department of Defense blankets common areas with posters encouraging service members and their families to request their absentee ballots and vote by mail. As members of the military were fighting for democracy around the world, the government wanted to ensure those on active duty were participating in ours at home.” 

Butler and Gupta also urged Congress to immediately allocate $25 billion to support the postal service. They also encouraged all eligible voters to have a plan to vote, whether it’s by mail, ballot drop-box, or in person.

Read the full op-ed here.

Founded by an Iraq veteran in 2004, IAVA is the non-partisan leader in advocacy, public awareness and 1-on-1 care management and peer support. We organize locally, drive historic impacts nationally and fight for over 400,000 veterans and their allies nationwide. If a veteran or their family is in need of assistance now, please reach out to IAVA’s Quick Reaction Force at www.quickreactionforce.org or 855-91RAPID (855-917-2743) to be connected promptly with a veteran care manager who will assist you. Visit IAVA’s The Vote Hub at www.votehub.org to register to vote and find polling information.

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 220 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.

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