Over the weekend, the United States Postal Service warned North Carolina that mail delays could disenfranchise voters after Tillis donor and Greensboro resident Louis DeJoy escalated his attacks on the service he runs and the President admitted that he is blocking emergency funding because he wants to make it more difficult to process mail ballots.

Senator Tillis’ response? Silence. 

Tillis has been “noticeably less vocal” than other Senators and “hasn’t responded” to his hometown paper about the changes to the USPS even as North Carolinians call on him to take a stand. Hundreds protested outside of DeJoy’s Greensboro home last weekend, noting that DeJoy’s attacks on the USPS “are hurting rural areas by denying quick delivery from our postal service.”

In papers across the state, concerned North Carolinians called on Tillis to “voice opposition to tactics that Donald Trump and U.S. Postmaster General Louis Dejoy are using to damage the integrity of our election” and wondered, “When will Sens. Richard Burr and Thom Tillis stand up for the foundation of our democracy and protect the vote?”

DeJoy’s efforts to undermine the USPS are especially damaging to rural North Carolinians and veterans who get their prescriptions through the mail and, combined with President Trump’s recent admission, threaten voters’ ability to cast their ballots during a pandemic.

“One of Thom Tillis’ big donors is gutting the USPS, making life harder for folks in rural areas and veterans who rely on the Postal Service for their prescription medication, yet Senator Tillis is completely silent,” NCDP spokesperson Robert Howard said. “North Carolinians are worried about what these attacks on the USPS mean for their mail, their prescriptions, and their right to cast a ballot this fall, but Senator Tillis is again sheepishly staying silent. Unfortunately, that’s the Thom Tillis North Carolinians of all stripes know all too well.”