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USPS warns of 'significant risk' of late ballots

As more and more voters expect to vote by mail to avoid public gatherings, the U.S. Postal Service is warning some states that they need to provide more time for mail-in ballots to be counted in the presidential election.

The warning highlighting the potential for a meaningful numbers of votes to go uncounted.

USPS has told at least four states - Michigan, Pennsylvania, California and Washington - that there is (quote) ”significant risk" voters will not have enough time to complete their ballots and return them on time under current state laws.

That’s according to correspondence seen by Reuters.

The Washington Post on Friday reported USPS has warned 46 states.

And the stakes are high. The presidential election could see up to half of U.S. voters cast their ballots by mail.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy on Friday said every voter in the state would be mailed a ballot so they could chose between by-mail or in-person voting.

MURPHY: “Every vote should be safe. Every vote should be secure. And every vote should count. That shouldn't be controversial.”

The Postal Service has, this week, gotten pulled into a political fight… with President Donald Trump on Thursday saying he objected to Democrats’ request to provide funds for the struggling service because he opposes mail-in voting.

TRUMP: "...therefor they don't have it, they don't have the money to do the universal mail-in votes."

Then on Friday, Trump said he would agree to 25 billion dollars if Democrats make concessions on a coronavirus aid bill.

In a Friday statement, top Democrats Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer said Trump has (quote) "made plain that he will manipulate the operations of the Post Office to deny eligible voters the ballot in pursuit of his own re-election.”

The 300,000-member postal union said on Friday it had endorsed Joe Biden for president, warning "the very survival" of USPS is at stake... and criticizing Trump for refusing to provide it with financial relief.