As the U.S. Postal Service braces for a surge in mail-in votes cast ahead of the 2020 election, the agency is also grappling with a series of interconnected challenges: declining mail volume, a budget crisis, operational changes that have delayed deliveries and more. 

In recent months, USPS also has become a target of national debate, as politicians argue over its operations and question its leader, Louis DeJoy, about whether new cost-cutting measures might compromise election integrity.

Every day, USPS employees are encountering these challenges and devising ways to overcome them. Their perspectives provide an invaluable glimpse at the small-detail consequences of large-scale policy changes. Yet these workers can face disciplinary action for speaking to the press.    

Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting, the nation’s oldest nonpartisan, nonprofit investigative newsroom, is confidentially collecting postal workers’ accounts. Our goal is to understand, in as much detail as possible, what the transformation of one of America’s most important institutions looks like on the ground. More about us and our work here.

If you’re a postal worker interested in sharing your experience, we want to hear from you. We will never publish your name or any identifying information without your consent. 

This form requires JavaScript to complete.
Powered by CityBase.

Creative Commons License

Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.

Byard Duncan was a reporter and producer for  engagement and collaborations for Reveal. He managed Reveal’s Reporting Networks, which provide more than 1,000 local journalists across the U.S. with resources and training to continue Reveal investigations in their communities. He also helped lead audience engagement initiatives around Reveal’s stories and assists local reporters in elevating their work to a national platform. In addition to Reveal, Duncan’s work has appeared in GQ, Esquire, The California Sunday Magazine and Columbia Journalism Review, among other outlets. He was part of Reveal’s Behind the Smiles project team, which was named a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2019. He is the recipient of two Edward R. Murrow Awards, a National Headliner Award, an Al Neuharth Innovation in Investigative Journalism Award, and two first-place awards for feature storytelling from the Society of Professional Journalists and Best of the West. Duncan is based in Reveal's Emeryville, California, office.