Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney Colette McEachin reportedly encouraged voters on Wednesday to consider delivering their 2024 mail-in ballots directly to a post office as the United States Postal Service (USPS) continues to suffer unexplained delays and disappearances of mail.
McEachin made the remarks to 6 News Richmond when discussing a new investigation into the USPS issues in Richmond. She was asked about the mail-in ballots after suggesting the problems with mail delivery could be placed highly within the postal service.
The outlet reported McEachin “expressed concerns with mail-in ballots, encouraging people to try to deliver their ballots to a local post office or in person, if possible, rather than send ballots through the mail.
As for the source of the problems at USPS, she reportedly speculated “institutional malfeasance at both the individual level or the executive level at the Postal Service” could be to blame.
McEachin’s concern for Virginia voters comes after about one third of them cast an absentee ballot in 2023. The number of voters in this group decreased by about 100,000 last year when compared to the 2022 midterm elections.
The high water mark for absentee voting in Virginia likely occurred during the 2020 presidential election, when nearly 60 percent of the commonwealth’s electorate voted absentee.
While the issues at USPS remain ongoing, earlier this month the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the guilty plea of a former postal carrier who admitted to the theft of hundreds of pieces of mail.
Former USPS employee Wendy Lawrence of Richmond admitted to stealing the mail, enriching herself with any gift cards or other valuables, then used the enclosed personally identifying information and financial documents to commit financial crimes.
Before she was caught, the DOJ stated that Lawrence stole checks from the mail then “used the bank account and routing information on those checks to initiate online payments, which she used for such expenses as her tax bill, pest control bill, and rent.”
Authorities also say Lawrence attempted to file a change of address notification for at least one of her victims in a bid to continue receiving stolen mail.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Commonwealth Atty Collette McEachin” by Richmond Commonwealth Atty Office and US Mail Sorting Machine is by Chad Davis CCNC2.0.
