Editor’s Note: Geraldine Lampert has a 30-year career in manufacturing industries specializing in strategy, market analysis and development and strategic account management. She has no professional affiliation with the US Postal Service, UPS or FedEx. The opinions expressed here are her own. Read more opinion articles at CNN.
Most Americans want election processes that are legitimate and fair, with trusted results. We typically trust our electoral system and state and federal government agencies for this process, but polling shows that trust has been eroded just as we approach the 2020 election.
It’s time to get creative about voting by mail.
Rather than debate the current USPS capabilities, capacity and efficiency, it’s time for creativity to shore up mail-in and absentee ballots.
In 2012, 35% of votes cast were by early voting, by mail or as an absentee ballot, rather than at traditional Election Day polling places. That rose to nearly 41% in 2016 – a total of 57.2 million votes.
That year, sixteen states jointly had greater than 50% of votes cast by these non-traditional means.
Based on the overall trend, compounded by pandemic health safety concerns, many predict even higher mail voting rates in 2020. Previously five states offered permanent automatic mail-in ballot systems. This year 22 more states have implemented mail-in ballot systems in response to the pandemic.
To unpack options to best handle mail-in voting, let’s start with the question: What US-owned and operated resources beyond the US Post Office could America direct, or redirect, to collaboratively secure logistics requirements of mail-in voting? The answer is private industry.
The Defense Production Act of 1950, which prioritizes business activities necessary for national defense, has been invoked already 33 times in 2020 in response to pandemic for national needs.
Evidence of foreign interference in 2016 and already ahead of the 2020 election, indicates securing the election is a matter of national defense – a matter exacerbated by the pandemic and aligned with Defense Production Act intentions.
Ballot delivery to voters, and collection and transit to counting stations is critical. It is equally important to secure the delivery, collection and transit of ballots equipment to polling stations.
Using the power of executive order, President Trump could mandate that resources be diverted to secure mail-in voting and support a trusted, fair and timely November election.
The US has sophisticated, nationwide, American owned and operated logistics channels connecting members of the public with private and public organizations. These companies have tracking technology for every item traversing their channels, including electronic signature validation for drop off and delivery.
They own and/or contract transportation vehicles for land and air transport of envelopes to oversized, overweight items. Business locations are staffed generally 9 and 12 hours per day, Monday through Saturday.
They are trusted household names: UPS and FedEx.
Questions regarding the potential for foreign government intervention loom large. Voter fraud allegations and concerns are being voiced by President Donald Trump and amplified by news media across the political spectrum, reporting his repeated public concerns despite no documented evidence of systemic voter fraud in past elections.
The 2018 midterm election process encountered challenges at the polls resulting in long lines and issues ranging from miscalculation of registered voters, voting machine and technology glitches, inadequately equipped poll stations and connectivity challenges.
The US Postal Service has been weakened by pandemic-related closures, and operational changes and elimination of overtime creates bottlenecks and opportunity for misdirected mail. Mail volume and frequency is erratic and riddled with delays in many neighborhoods.
With the 2020 election less than three months away, there are more questions than answers about how to conduct safe, reliable voting in this time of pandemic. The longer we wait to address them, the more urgent the situation becomes.
What we need to do is push for a 2020 vote by mail solution to address the current concerns of many people.
UPS has around 1,000 customer centers, over 5,100 UPS Store locations and 38,000 drop boxes in the US. The company operates in more than 125 countries that can serve American voters overseas.
FedEx has more than 2,150 office locations, 6,450 authorized ShipCenter partners, 11,400 on-site locations, and over 34,000 drop boxes. Their international network spans over 220 countries.
The USPS has over 31,300 post offices and 141,900 mailboxes in the US.
The Defense Production Act could engage UPS and FedEx for duty this Fall to assist with distributing and collecting mail in ballots, and securely transporting them to counting stations.
As the US Postal Service already has business alliances with these two American carriers, implementation and collaboration may be relatively straight forward.
A plausible scenario would require voters to deposit ballots with tracking numbers at local FedEx, UPS and USPS locations where staff or polling station volunteers could follow the state’s required verification steps before inserting ballots into secure boxes.
Based on a set schedule, those boxes would ship with tracking numbers to counting locations, with receipt verification of the ballots.
This scenario could easily coincide with early voting windows allowed by many states to accommodate the election. In rural or otherwise underserved areas, UPS, FedEx and USPS could coordinate with local poll supervisors to arrange ballot drop-off and pickup near existing polling stations.
In cases where individuals are unable to personally make it to a secure drop off point, USPS carriers armed with signature verification equipment could pick up ballots on their regular route and deposit them in central drop boxes.
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These secured boxes could be positioned in community living centers like nursing homes and large housing complexes to enable more voters to participate.
We have the logistics network in place, but we may need additional signature verification equipment and secure drop boxes. This plan may also require additional people, background checks and training. The good news is USPS, FedEx and UPS have flexible work structures and could bring on additional personnel if needed, as they do during the bust holiday seasons.
Carriers engaged in the process should be compensated by the federal government at their standard government contract rates to cover additional staffing and vehicles. If unreasonable documented additional cost is incurred, a pre-negotiated percent overage could be reimbursed.
If we want to have a safe and efficient election this year, we need to take assistance where it is available. Luckily for us, we have the DPA, which allows us to do just that.
The Trump administration should utilize this act once more to tap UPS and FedEx for this important role, and then lean on experts from all corners of government to provide insight on how these companies can be most effectively utilized. There’s no time to waste. Likely there are more ideas to consider. So, let’s get the right people engaged now.