Northwest Ohio mail will soon be sorted through Cleveland during election season.
Congressman Bob Latta and the United States Postal Service (USPS) made the order on Friday.
Northwest Ohio mail normally was bound for the Metroplex Facility in Pontiac, Michigan. The order will have the mail bound for the Metroplex Sorting Facility in Cleveland starting September 16th, 2020 through November 14th, 2020.
Congressman Latta previously made a formal request in June and had reiterated the request during a phone call with USPS officials.
According to the congressman's office, concerns were raised by Latta about election mail — including absentee request forms and absentee ballots — being sent through the Michigan Facility. Latta's office says that at least 1,000 absentee ballots had been lost or were severely delayed in the 2016 election.
Latta's office also shared that they had been contacted by a large number of constituents about problems in the 2018 election and this year's primary election.
"The USPS is making the right decision to keep all sorting of Ohio mail in Ohio through the election," Latta stated in a press release. "With absentee voting expected to increase this year, my constituents deserve to know that their vote will be counted. While I'm hopeful that this will also improve the reliability and timeliness of ALL of my constituents for the next few months, I would like to see this change be made permanent.
Earlier this year, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose also requested that all Ohio ballots be sorted in Ohio facilities.
"Getting the mail on time has been a problem in parts of my district for years, through no fault of the local post offices or letter carriers, who do a tremendous job," added Latta. "It's been an operational problem, and this action by the USPS should go a long way to solve it."
Mail that had previously been sent to the Columbus facility will still be sent there.
