What is the controversy around Postal voting in the US elections and why is Trump opposing it?

Team Udayavani, Aug 20, 2020, 12:24 PM IST

Amid US Presidential Elections, there has been a lot of buzz around United States Postal Service (USPS). Earlier, Trump has long railed against mail-in voting, falsely claiming it leads to rampant fraud

However, On Thursday, in order to soften his earlier remarks, President Donald Trump said, he opposes additional funds for the US Postal Service as it would boost mail-in voting he claims would help Democrats.

According to the Conversation, In May, the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives passed a $3 trillion coronavirus relief package, which included relief funds for the USPS.

It also included funding for expanded postal voting, which Republicans oppose because in many areas of the country, more registered Democrats have requested postal ballots than registered Republicans

In the 2016 US presidential election, nearly one quarter of votes were cast by post and Trump claimed, that illegal voting prevented him from winning the election that year.

BBC report states that a spokesman for Mr Biden condemned the comment, saying: “The president of the United States is sabotaging a basic service that hundreds of millions of people rely upon, cutting a critical lifeline for rural economies and for delivery of medicines, because he wants to deprive Americans of their fundamental right to vote safely during the most catastrophic public health crisis in over 100 years.”

The US postal system is currently experiencing a slowdown in mail deliveries, which critics say is due to policies put in place by Mr Trump’s selection to run the service.