From mail boxes and sorting machines being removed to overtime being cut for mail carriers, concerns abound about what’s going on with the United States Postal Service throughout the country.

Voter suppression is a top concern for many as President Donald Trump has voiced his opposition to universal Vote By Mail. His worries about mass voter fraud and negative comments about the USPS have stoked fears in many about whether the president is trying to sabotage mail service during a national pandemic.

It has become a hot button political issue as the November Presidential election nears and many are opting to use the Vote By Mail option as Coronavirus concerns continue to linger.

Adding to all this is the other major concern that the one in charge of the USPS is Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a major campaign donor of Trump.

Congressman Bill Foster (D-Illinois), Congressman Lauren Underwood and Congressman Sean Casten legislators held a press conference on Tuesday where Foster said the Postal Service is a “pillar of our democracy, enshrined in the constitution and essential for providing critical services like delivering prescriptions, Social Security benefits, paychecks, tax returns, and absentee ballots to millions of Americans.

“That is why it is so disgraceful that President Trump and his political appointees are deliberately trying to weaken and delay the United States Post Office in the run up to a national election,” Foster said. “We will not stand by as they try to manipulate the Postal Service to suppress votes and to try to scare people out of exercising their right to participate in this election.”

DeJoy is expected to testify Friday and Monday before the House Oversight Committee about his proposed sweeping changes to the agency.

On Tuesday, DeJoy seemed to change course and released a statement. “The Postal Service is ready today to handle whatever volume of election mail it receives this fall. Even with the challenges of keeping our employees and customers safe and healthy as they operate amid a pandemic, we will deliver the nation’s election mail on time and within our well-established service standards,” he said in the statement provided to The Times Weekly by his Washington-based spokesman David Partenheimer. “The American public should know that this is our number one priority between now and election day.”

He added a task force on election mail to enhance the ongoing work and partnership with state and local election officials in jurisdictions throughout the country will be enhanced.

“I came to the Postal Service to make changes to secure the success of this organization and its long-term sustainability,” DeJoy said. “I believe significant reforms are essential to that objective, and work toward those reforms will commence after the election. In the meantime, there are some long standing operational initiatives — efforts that predate my arrival at the Postal Service — that have been raised as areas of concern as the nation prepares to hold an election in the midst of a devastating pandemic. To avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail, I am suspending these initiatives until after the election is concluded.”

Partenheimer could not say whether mail boxes and sorting machines that had already been removed will now be returned.

“I don't have a comment beyond what was (in) his statement. On background, of course there will be additional comments from the Postmaster General when he testifies in Congress this Friday and Monday.

Will County Clerk Lauren Staley Ferry’s office had received 74,000 Vote By Mail applications as of Wednesday and her Chief of Staff Charles Pelkie said the office has received confirmation from the postal service in Joliet that they will be able to handle the higher volume of ballots expected.

Pelkie stressed that anyone opting for Vote by Mail should fill out the application right away and send it back or drop it off at the clerk’s office and do the same with the ballot when it is received. Voters have the option of dropping their Vote By Mail applications and ballots directly at the clerk’s office or in a box outside the clerk’s office. The clerk’s office also has a box for dropping ballots at the Fountaindale Public Library, 300 W. Briarcliff Road in Bolingbrook. Pelkie said a third box will likely be placed somewhere in the Southeastern portion of the county. All ballot applications must be received no later than Oct. 29, but Staley Ferry has said that is cutting it close. All ballots must be postmarked by Election Day Nov. 3 in order to be counted.

Staley Ferry has put together a video outlining how Vote By Mail ballots will be handled. Visit thetimesweekly.com to view the video or visit thewillcountyclerk.com for more information.