Vermont’s post offices have been experiencing staffing shortages since the pandemic began, and the U.S. Postal Service is still playing catch-up. But most officials seem unconcerned about the staffing problems impacting election mail in the run-up to Town Meeting Day.
“We’ve been aggressively hosting job fairs and trying to get the word out to bring in candidates,” said Steve Doherty, a spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service. “But we’re not getting the kind of turnout at the events that we need to fill all the positions that we have.”
A search of the agency’s online job listings yields more than 80 job openings in Vermont alone. The shortage is evident in Williston.
“We have eight routes around Williston, and they are not all fully staffed all the time,” said Sarah Mason, Williston’s town clerk. “So sort of depending on where you live, it can depend on how often your mail is getting there.”
And Williston isn’t alone. Doherty said towns across the state are facing similar shortages — and the trend spans the Northeast.
“If it were just happening in Bennington or just in Burlington, then we could pull resources from other areas,” said Doherty. “But since it is happening across the state that kind of stretches that flexibility to its extent.”
The agency hiring process is extensive, with fingerprinting and background checks making it difficult to get people to work quickly.
As for delivering ballots, Doherty said the agency prioritizes election mail, and he doesn’t anticipate any major hiccups come Town Meeting Day on March 7. Ballots are expedited to the town clerks as quickly as possible, he said.
State officials have similar confidence about election mail.
“I haven’t heard of … any direct issues related to ballots around Town Meeting Day,” said William Senning, director of the Vermont Secretary of State’s Office elections division. “And over the two or three years that it has been kind of a general issue, the postal service has been really good about working with me and the town clerks and prioritizing ballots despite the general delays.”
For Montpelier, things seem to be running smoothly so far.
“We sent out our first wave of early ballot requests, and they seem to have arrived in a timely manner, and we’ve already gotten some back,” said John Odum, Montpelier city clerk.Mason, the Williston town clerk, said postal workers have been doing their best to get ballots out and back in a timely manner, but she recommends people drop off their ballots at their town clerk’s office or at a drop box if possible, just to be safe.
“If you have to rely on the mail, then do not put anything in the mail after, I would say, March 1, and that would give a week for it to get back to the polling place by (March) 7,” Mason said.
Read the original story on the Rutland Herald
