RICHMOND, Va. — U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger on Friday held a press conference alongside U.S. Senators Mark Warner (D-VA) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) and U.S. Representative Jennifer McClellan (D-VA-04) in Richmond, Virginia following their briefing on election mail readiness with U.S. Postal Service (USPS) Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.
More than 105,000 Virginians cast their ballots by mail during the June 2024 primaries earlier this year, and many more are expected to cast their ballots ahead of the November 5 postmarked-by deadline for the general election. With early voting underway in Virginia, Spanberger and her colleagues met with Postmaster General DeJoy for a briefing on the steps USPS is taking to fulfill its role in the electoral process. Following this briefing, the lawmakers addressed USPS efforts to improve on-time delivery rates ahead of the general election and overall mail service performance in the Commonwealth.
“USPS plays a critical role in guaranteeing that every eligible voter can cast their vote. We met with Postmaster General DeJoy to make sure that the agency is working to deliver a higher standard of service ahead of Election Day to make sure ballots arrive on time,” said Spanberger. “I appreciate that Postmaster General DeJoy answered my questions about election mail delivery, and I will continue working with my colleagues from Virginia’s congressional delegation to make sure that Virginians can trust USPS to reliably deliver their letters, packages, checks, prescription medications, bills, and bill payments beyond Election Day.”
A representative from the office of U.S. Representative Rob Wittman (R-VA-01) also joined for the briefing with USPS Postmaster General DeJoy.
BACKGROUND
Spanberger has long been vocal about the numerous ways in which Virginians suffer without a strong USPS. In April 2024, Spanberger and fellow Virginia congressional lawmakers released a statement in response to an audit report from the USPS Office of Inspector General (OIG) on the Richmond Regional Processing and Distribution Center (RPDC) that highlighted various issues on the local, regional, and national levels that have impacted service in Virginia.
In June 2024, Spanberger pressed President Biden to swiftly nominate members to fill the remaining vacancies on the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) Board of Governors — the governing body authorized to elect, or remove, the Postmaster General. The next month, President Biden nominated Val Demings and William Zollars to the Board of Governors.