Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), the top Republican on the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, is requesting more information on how the Office of Special Counsel plans to verify postal workers are delivering ballots without having a political bias.
Comer penned a letter to Special Counsel Henry Kerner on Thursday expressing his concern with postal workers practicing politics while delivering mail ahead of the November election.
“I am writing to ensure that the substantial number of ballots expected to be cast by mail during the 2020 election cycle, in part because of the COVID-19 pandemic, are fairly delivered by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) without political bias,” Comer wrote.
He added, “Since the USPS is expected to handle tens of millions of ballots in the coming months, the Committee is interested in learning more about the Office of Special Counsel’s (OSC) role overseeing USPS’s processes for preventing and addressing violations of the Hatch Act during the 2020 election cycle.”
The Hatch Act prohibits federal employees from participating in certain political activities.
Comer acknowledged while the election is not until November, several states will begin mailing ballots in September.
He urged the committee to ensure the Postal Service educates its employees and addresses Hatch Act violations.
Comer requested the committee answer questions including how it plans to educate postal workers, how it will handle Hatch Act violations, whether the Postal Service has addressed issues related to the carrier work release program, whether they have received complaints about Hatch Act violations, and if they are planning on releasing Hatch Act guidance.
His letter comes just days before lawmakers are expected to vote on a bill that would require same-day processing for mail-in ballots and prohibit Louis DeJoy, Postmaster General, from implementing changes that were in effect at the beginning of this year, as IJR previously reported.
