Mail Carrier Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

USPS Processing Center Public Hearing Set For Valentine’s Day

After delays and postponements, the United States Postal Service (USPS) has scheduled a public meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 6:30 p.m. at the Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center.

At the meeting, USPS will share the initial findings of a study on changing the South Charleston-based Processing and Distribution Center (P&DC) to a Local Processing Center (LPC). The USPS says their business case supports transferring some West Virginia mail processing operations to the Pittsburgh P&DC in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Pennwood Place P&DC in Warrendale, Pennsylvania.

USPS highlights more cost effectiveness and efficiency with their plan. Local postal workers union leaders remained concerned about the fate of the 800 local employees and the processing travel time of locally posted mail.

On Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., released the following statement after reviewing the USPS initial findings for the Charleston Processing and Distribution Center Mail Processing Facility Review:

“I have reviewed USPS’s initial findings of the Processing and Distribution Center in Charleston, and while I am glad to see that they have decided to invest in new equipment and upgrades to the facility, I am disappointed to see that they believe that some jobs being transferred to other locations — even if it is less than what was rumored — would be a positive step,” Capito said in a press release. “I also would have hoped the USPS would have held their public meeting as scheduled on Jan. 30. I still believe that the community deserves to be heard, and I hope that USPS will take that feedback into consideration before any final decisions are made. In the meantime, I urge USPS to listen at the required upcoming public meeting and take into account the importance of this facility to the community as they work to produce their final decisions.”

The initial findings have been posted on the USPS webpage.

The public hearing will allow members of the community to provide oral feedback and perspectives on the Initial Findings of the Mail Processing Facility Review (MPFR). A summary of the MPFR will be posted on about.usps.com at least one week prior to the public input meeting.

Members of the local community may submit written comments through Feb. 29, 2024. The public’s input will be considered prior to a final decision.

Mail Carrier Altered Eight Absentee Requests, Says U.S. Attorney

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of West Virginia has charged a Pendleton County mail carrier, accusing him of tampering with eight absentee ballot applications.

According to a criminal complaint filed on Tuesday, Thomas Cooper switched five of the applicants’ requests for a Democratic ballot to requests for a Republican ballot. He later told an investigator with the West Virginia attorney general’s office he did this “as a joke.”

In April, the Secretary of State’s office mailed every registered voter in the state an absentee ballot application, designed like a postcard.

The Pendleton County Clerk’s office noticed in April that eight of these applications “appeared to be altered by use of a black-ink pen,” according to court documents.

The clerk reached out to the ballot applicants, knowing they were registered Democrats. Four voters confirmed they had underlined the Democratic option in blue pen, allowing the mail carrier to allegedly circle the Republican option in a way that covered the blue line.

On two other ballots, the USPS mail carrier had scratched out a clearly circled request for Democrat ballots with blank ink, and re-circled “Republican.”

West Virginia Public Broadcasting was unable to reach the Pendleton County Clerk’s office Tuesday evening.

In a written statement to WVPB, U.S. Attorney Bill Powell said his office remains “vigilant for any illegal conduct and will be aggressive in our enforcement of the rule of law.”

Had the mail carrier’s conduct gone unnoticed, the affidavit states “it would have caused the Clerk to give Republican ballots to 5 Democrat voters—skewing the primary election by 5 votes and thereby defrauding all West Virginians of a fair election.”

In a statement on Thursday, Secretary of State Mac Warner said his office and law enforcement caught the fraud attempt early enough to avoid any damage.

The Department of Justice has temporarily halted all nonessential in-person grand jury hearings until July 1, meaning the U.S. attorney’s office is unable to prosecute the crime until at least a month after the state’s primary election.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic and an increased access to absentee ballots for all West Virginians, 2020 is likely to be the most popular year for mail-in ballots in the Mountain State. On May 19, Warner’s office reported nearly a fifth of the state’s registered voters had requested an absentee ballot. There have been more than 115,000 absentee ballots cast so far.

Emily Allen is a Report for America corps member.