An executive order that would have irrevocably harmed Vote-by-Mail and eroded public trust in postal workers was blocked by the Supreme Court on Monday night. The Supreme Court ruled that the new restrictions on Vote-by-Mail would not be put in place for the 2026 midterm elections. APWU President Jonathan Smith called the ruling “a victory for every American and a relief for postal workers” and said the USPS Board of Governors should withdraw the rule. If they don’t, Smith said, “we will be reliving this nightmare again in 2028.”
In the days following the court’s judgement, North Carolina postal workers held news conferences across North Carolina to announce the airing of the union’s Vote-by-Mail ad on broadcast and digital platforms and discuss a recent national bipartisan polling on Vote-by-Mail, further reminding the public that they rely on Vote-by-Mail this election season.
North Carolina Council President Daniel Matthews, led the events on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Charlotte Area Local 375 President Miriam Bell joined him at the Charlotte stop. The 30-second ad began airing on broadcast and cable television in Raleigh on Wednesday, followed by Charlotte and Wilmington.
“Postal workers don’t deliver Democratic or Republican mail. We deliver America’s mail,” Matthews said. “States administer the elections. The Postal Service delivers the mail. That’s the line, and it shouldn’t move.”
It does not matter to us who you’re voting for. It’s just getting that piece of mail to its destination,” Bell told reporters in Charlotte. Suggestions that postal workers cannot be trusted with ballots, she said, are “insulting to postal workers.”
The polling, conducted jointly by Hart Research and North Star Opinion Research, found that roughly one in three voters cast a mail ballot in 2024, including nearly half of seniors. Notably, voters oppose efforts to limit vote-by-mail by a 22-point margin.
About 300,000 North Carolinians voted by mail in 2024. Nationwide, 99.64 percent of ballots were delivered from voters to election officials within five days.
“North Carolinians, I’m telling you, you can believe it, you can trust it, you can use it,” Matthews said in Wilmington. “Don’t believe the rhetoric. Believe the process.”
The news conferences were covered by outlets such as CBS 17 in Raleigh, WBTV in Charlotte, FOX8 in Greensboro, and WECT in Wilmington. Across all platforms, the ad has been viewed more than 2 million times statewide online since it began airing. Watch it here.
North Carolina voters can find absentee deadlines and instructions at ncsbe.gov, and clerks at local post offices can answer questions about postage.
Tell the Board of Governors to strike down restrictions on Vote-by-Mail. Send your letter today.
Vote-by-Mail: Keep It. Protect It. Expand It.
The post Following Victory, Postal Workers Double Down on Vote-by-Mail first appeared on APWU.