We can expect the Democrats to ride the conspiracy theory that the USPS (and President Trump) is out to suppress the votes of millions of Americans all the way until Election Day. Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins is playing right along, doing his part, in Houston. The Democrat has written a formal request to Governor Abbott asking him to extend the deadline by which county election administrators can receive mail ballots.

This is a calculated scare campaign to convince voters that voter suppression is real and deliberate at the hands of the Trump administration. Sore losers like Stacey Abrams and Hillary Clinton have laid the groundwork. Over and over again, audiences have been told that Republicans want to make it as hard as possible for people to vote. Never mind that in the case of Abrams, voter turn-out was at record levels. She lost anyway. And with Hillary, well, voter suppression is just one of a list of many excuses she uses for her loss to Trump.

In the case of voting in Houston and Harris County, a record number of voters is anticipated. The coronavirus will still be with us on November 3, though, so the Democrats are pushing for universal mail-in voting. Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins has encouraged all Houstonians to request mail-in ballots. Texans can apply for a mail-in ballot if they are over 65 years of age, will be out of the county on election day, incarcerated, disabled, or ill. In order to use the excuse of illness, voters can use the coronavirus pandemic. The reasoning is that there is a potential of exposure to the coronavirus in a polling place. See how this works? Democrats know how to work the system.

Last week the USPS sent a letter to officials in Texas and other states from the general counsel and executive vice president of the Postal Service, Thomas J. Marshall, which said the time frames outlined in state law for mail-in voting are “incongruous” with delivery standards. There is concern that mail-in ballots may not be received by the deadline set by state law. The blame will be placed on the USPS and the Trump administration. The new postmaster is implementing reforms and the postal union workers are not happy about that. So, along with everything else in 2020, the USPS has been politicialized.

Chris Hollins wants the deadline extended to that of the deadline for military voters. As explained in a press release that ended up in my inbox Wednesday night, Hollins requests the deadline be extended to November 9, 2020.

On Wednesday, August 19, 2020, Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins sent a formal request to Governor Greg Abbott requesting that Governor Abbott extend the deadline by which county election administrators can receive mail ballots. The deadline for most mail ballots is currently either 7:00 p.m. on Election Day (November 3) or, if postmarked by Election Day, 5:00 p.m. the day after Election Day (November 4). To alleviate Harris County residents’ fears after recent news coverage detailing expected delays from the United States Postal Service, the Harris County Clerk’s Office seeks to extend the deadline by which all mail ballots postmarked on or before November 3 may be received by election officials to at least Monday, November 9, 2020 –– the same deadline that currently exists in Texas for military voters.

“This November, we are predicting record voter turnout, and my office is receiving thousands of vote-by-mail applications,” said Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins. “As the situation stands now, a mail ballot postmarked on Election Day is unlikely to be received in our office the following day. We know that voting by mail is the safest way to vote ––I hope that the Governor accepts this request to avoid disenfranchising thousands of Harris County voters due to mail delays beyond our control.”

Hollins is all wee-weed up about scare tactics being used against him by the USPS. Upon receiving the letter from USPS warning of the potential of missed deadlines, he said, “This is the latest form of voter suppression in this country and it’s intended to scare us.” He’s turned the conspiracy around to make it sound as though the USPS is scaring him that ballots may not be processed in time to be counted for the November election.

When asked about this charge by the County Clerk, a Houston USPS representative responded with a statement.

The United States Postal Service is fully committed to fulfilling our role in the electoral process when public policy makers choose to utilize us as a part of their election system, and to delivering Election Mail in a timely manner consistent with our operational standards. We do ask election officials and voters to be mindful of the time that it takes for us to transport, process and deliver ballots from the election mail officials to the voters, the time that it takes for voters to consider and prepare their ballots, and the time that it takes for a ballot to be transported, processed and delivered back to the election official after it is placed by the voter back into the mail stream, based upon our usual delivery standards which have not changed.

For that reason, we recommend that customers who opt to vote through the U.S. Mail must understand their local jurisdiction’s requirements for timely submission of absentee ballots, including postmarking requirements. Voters must use First-Class Mail or an expedited level of service to return their completed ballots. In order to allow sufficient time for voters to receive, complete and return ballots via the mail, and to facilitate timely receipt of completed ballots by election officials, we strongly recommend that jurisdictions immediately communicate and advise voters to request ballots at the earliest point allowable but no later than 15 days prior to the election date. The Postal Service recommends that domestic, non-military voters mail their completed ballots back to the election officials at least one week prior to their state’s due date. The Postal Service also recommends that voters contact local election officials for information about deadlines.

Contrary to some assertions, we are not slowing down election mail or any other mail. Instead, we continue to employ a robust and proven process to ensure proper handling of all Election Mail consistent with our standards.

It’s been pointed out many times but the fact remains that the USPS is able to handle millions of pieces of mail during the Christmas holiday season and will be able to handle even a large influx of mail-in ballots. This panic is all so manufactured on the part of the Democrats. The USPS is simply reminding local officials that it is best to ask voters to mail in their ballots as early as possible to keep everything running smoothly. That’s just common sense. It’s local election officials that are not prepared for universal mail-in voting in states that don’t normally use that method for elections. Texas is one of those states where universal mail-in voting is not in place.

Hollis said that if voters are worried about their ballots arriving through the mail in time to be counted, just drop it off in person anytime up until Election Day. Harris County has 11 annex offices that will accept ballots.