ATLANTA — U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff continues to press U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy after he failed to provide an update on on-time mail delivery in Georgia.
Sen. Ossoff previously gave DeJoy a May 16 deadline to respond to the state's ongoing mail delays. As of late Thursday afternoon, a spokesperson with Ossoff's office said they had not received a response from DeJoy.
On Friday, Sen. Ossoff released a statement expressing his disdain for Dejoy's failure to act, saying, the postmaster's "refusal to cooperate with basic Senate oversight is baffling and disturbing."
"It suggests that in addition to being incompetent at delivering the mail on time, he doesn’t care about the Georgians in distress as a result of his incompetence," Ossoff's statement read. "Prescriptions aren’t arriving. Bills aren’t getting paid. Ballots aren’t getting counted. I will continue fighting for the Georgians suffering from the Postmaster General’s failure."
Earlier this week, DeJoy announced that he would be pausing the ongoing postal reorganization plan until next year. But Ossoff told 11Alive that that move doesn't address what's already happened at the Palmetto facility
“That change is not going to help things here in Georgia," he told 11Alive. "We're already in the midst of this transition."
11Alive has been tracking on-time rates for first-class mail for weeks now. Operations appeared to be improving, but the latest numbers show a dip again when it comes to first-class mail and single-piece letters, which are now processing only 40% on time compared to 44% the week before.
As Ossoff waits on answers, he shared that his concerns over absentee ballots are growing as the May primary, set for next Tuesday, gets closer.
"I'm hugely concerned about the impact on elections and voting by mail … particularly for seniors or folks with disabilities or illness who vote by mail," Ossoff said. "Remember, the state of Georgia just made it much harder to vote by mail."
The senator would not reveal his next move if the Postmaster General didn't respond by the deadline, only saying he would continue to ensure Georgians get this problem fixed.
Full coverage on mail delays in metro Atlanta: 11alive.com/PostalProblems