Locals gathered at the Ontario Post Office on Saturday morning, Aug. 22, to demonstrate their support for the United States Postal Service.

ONTARIO — An Ontario woman, who supports many local committees as a member and volunteer, went to bat on Saturday, Aug. 22, to support the U.S. Postal Service by organizing a small peaceful demonstration from 11 to 11:45 a.m. outside the Ontario Post Office.

Dubbed Save Our Post Office, the demonstration was part of a nationwide movement on Saturday that she heard about from Move On, Janet Komoto wants to help “let our elected leaders know that we support the U.S. Postal Service and we will not put up with dismantling and re-organizing the service we currently have in place.”

The biggest concern around the nation right now is citizens missing out in the electoral process for the upcoming presidential election in November, as the general election will be held largely by mail-in ballots due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the same time local and state officials are gearing up for mail-in elections — many for the first time — sweeping changes are being mandated at the post offices across the country, according to a Wednesday article on Oregon Public Broadcasting. A USPS spokesman cited declining mail as reason for the changes in that story.

President Donald Trump just two weeks ago opposed funding for USPS, saying he didn’t want to see it for mail-in ballots. This caused a clamor from citizens and lawmakers, citing potential voter suppression.

New Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has said he would suspend changes, but some post office workers indicate it may already be too late, with many citing direct impact on mail sorting capacity.

Komoto said she can’t believe putting a new postmaster general in place has made things happen so quickly. It would seem they would want to keep items such as sorting machines that “make the job of letter carriers more efficient,” she said.

Komoto said the president of JACL, who lives in Washington, D.C., just received his absentee ballot for the primary election there about 10 days ago — three-and-a-half months after it was postmarked in May.

”The primary is over,” Komoto said, adding that shouldn’t happen to ballots in the mail, which are clearly marked as such. “This is ridiculous.”

Everything has really slowed down when it comes to the U.S. mail at this time, Komoto said, saying that Priority Mail has been sometimes taking two weeks to arrive at its destination.

”The whole process of the mail being slowed, it’s just not right,” she said. “The post office has been functioning pretty well over the last forty years that I’ve used it.”

Furthermore she said, it’s a public service that she and others have come to rely on.

”Especially people in rural areas. They depend on the mail to get things like prescription medicines and packages and parts for their farm.”

Due to the smoky air in recent days, Komoto kept the demonstration at less than an hour.

She said her goal is to “just let the [Trump] Administration know this is not the right thing to do. All the cutting and all they are doing right now and trying to jeopardize and sabotage the election coming up. It’s just not right.”

Her aim was to express the concern by not being disruptive and by keeping the crowd to no more than 40 people. Komoto provided signs to those who participated.

While she wasn’t sure whether the officials at the Ontario Post Office would be OK with the demonstration, Komoto said she was planning to go there Friday to talk someone ahead of time about it.

Participants were required to wear masks and adhere to social distancing mandates per the State of Oregon.

According to a Thursday statement from Secretary of State Bev Clarno, Oregon has over “two decades working with our local partners at USPS and has an excellent working relationship with them to ensure ongoing support for our elections.” She said that USPS has “told us that Oregon should have ‘sufficient time for voters to receive, complete and return their ballots by the state’s Election Day return deadline.’”

Additionally, Clarno said, voters who are concerned can take multiple steps to ensure their ballot is received in time to be counted. In Oregon, boxes will still be available to drop off ballots for those who do not wish to mail them or cannot make it to the post office in time.

”We will continue to work with our partners like county clerks across the state to make sure all Oregonians know the best options to return their ballots,” she concluded.