Singer John Legend is advising voters who requested mail-in or absentee ballots and have not sent them in to drop them off in person, warning it was too late to mail them.
Legend offered the advice on Twitter Tuesday while retweeting NBC News White House correspondent Geoff Bennett, who had tweeted about delays in delivery times for first class mail.
“US Postal Service on-time delivery times for First-Class Mail have dropped again — now nearly as bad as the worst period this summer. If you are voting absentee and haven’t returned your ballot, experts say drop it off in person. Do not rely on #USPS delivery at this point,” Bennett wrote on the social media platform Tuesday.
Legend added to Bennett’s message, writing, “This is intentional. Do not put your ballots in the mail any more.”
The 41-year-old host of NBC’s “The Voice” expanded on what he viewed as “intentional” in a Wednesday tweet. In it, he showed a screenshot of a text he received confirming that his ballot had been received because his state offered a program for voters to track their own.
“I signed up to track my ballot and got this text today. If your state offers this, make sure you track your ballot. And a reminder to not rely on the USPS for the final week of voting. They’ve been intentionally crippled by [President] Trump and [Postmaster General Louis] DeJoy,” he wrote.
DeJoy faced criticism this summer from Democrats over reforms he made to the US Postal Service as President Trump continued to rail against mail-in voting.
The postmaster general flatly denied that he was slowing mail to undermine the November presidential election, including under oath before House and Senate committees.
Before both committees, DeJoy conceded that on-time mail delivery had declined over the summer, but attributed that to the coronavirus pandemic.
He also said the USPS would prioritize ballots over first-class mail to make sure they would arrive to election officials on time.
Before the Senate, he specifically denied any role in removing neighborhood mailboxes or in closing post offices.
In his final tweet on the matter, Legend went on to encourage those who hadn’t yet voted to head to the polls — in person.
“Around 70 million of you have already voted, which is unprecedented and wonderful. But know that we need each and every one of you who hasn’t already done so. So figure out your plan to vote early or on Election Day in person or personally deliver your absentee/mail-in ballot!”