Clyburn promises tailgate absentee ballot parties as USPS delays controversial changes

When it comes to anything affecting peoples’ right to vote on Nov. 3, U.S. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn said on Tuesday he has a plan to make sure people can get their absentee ballots in on time.

“We aren’t going to have football this year, but we are going to have tailgating and we are going to organize absentee voting in tailgating fashion,” Clyburn, D-Columbia, told reporters outside the Eastover post office in rural Lower Richland, joining a handful of other U.S. House Democrats who advocated on behalf of the U.S. Postal Service in other states also Tuesday. “We’re organizing all over this state now.”

Clyburn, 80, the third-ranking Democrat in the U.S. House, said the absentee voter tailgate program will begin Oct. 5. But from his remarks, it wasn’t clear how extensive an effort he plans.

Clyburn’s press conference was meant to dramatize what he said was the central role post offices play in American life and draw attention to controversies and events, such as the contagious COVID-19 virus, that might interfere with the right to vote.

In recent weeks, post offices and mail delivery have become the center of a national controversy over whether cost-cutting measures implemented by President Donald Trump’s new Postmaster General, Louis DeJoy, will interfere with the timely delivery of absentee ballot applications and ballots.

Democrats feared DeJoy’s changes in mail delivery service would lead to bottlenecks and slowdowns in mail delivery around the country right before a presidential election when the usual mail volume gets swollen by millions of mailed absentee ballots.

But after the outcry, on Tuesday, DeJoy announced he would delay some operational changes until after Election Day. DeJoy is set to testify Friday before a U.S. Senate committee. Meanwhile, attorneys generals from more than 20 states have announced plans to sue to stop any changes that could interfere with voting, The Associated Press reported.

Clyburn told reporters he could not guarantee postal officials won’t take steps that would include removing mail boxes.

“That’s why I’m here now, to guard against that,” he said.

More voters than ever are expected to cast ballots by mail this year, in large part because of fears of catching the infectious and potentially fatal coronavirus. The infection is spread largely through peoples’ respiration and many fear that standing for hours in long lines waiting to vote will increase the chances of their getting sick.

In the last six months, more than 170,000 Americans have died from coronavirus infections, according to Johns Hopkins University, which tracks the disease. In South Carolina, more than 106,000 people have tested positive for the virus.

Another 2,230 South Carolinians have died as a result, health officials said Tuesday.

Trump, who appointed DeJoy, has repeatedly said, without evidence, that absentee ballots are subject to widespread fraud. In exchange, Democrats have charged the Trump administration with trying to derail mail-in votes by making it more likely that absentee ballots will arrive late and won’t be counted. Trump himself votes by mail using Florida absentee ballots.

Meanwhile, how much money to provide the cash-strapped Postal Service is caught up in a battle between Democrats and Republicans in Congress.

Clyburn said he wants the state to get more absentee ballot drop boxes, similar to Colorado. The heavy boxes cost $2,000, are anchored to the ground, “and they have cameras focused on them,” Clyburn said. That money, he said, has already been allocated to South Carolina in the recently-passed federal CARES Act legislation signed in March.

Standing next to Clyburn Tuesday was state Rep. Wendy Brawley, D-Richland, whose district includes the Eastover area.

“This post office means everything to this community,” Brawley said. “I can tell you as a small business owner, who runs a magazine, without the post office, nothing moves.”

That includes medications, school supplies and items needed to operate business, she said.

“Post offices connect people.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This story was originally published August 18, 2020 at 5:09 PM.