FARGO (KFGO) – A spokesperson for the United States Postal Service has responded to claims by Fargo State Senate candidate Curtis Olafson that nearly 300 political mailers were held at the post office in Fargo for 12 days and delivered after the election.
In an email to KFGO News, Desai Abdul-Razzaaq said U.S. Mail serves as a secure, efficient, and effective means for citizens and campaigns to participate in the electoral process, and employs a robust and proven process to ensure proper handling of all political and campaign mail.
“Regarding the customer’s political mailing, postal management researched to find that the candidate’s Political Mailing was delivered promptly on arrival in Fargo,” Abdul-Razzaaq wrote.
Olafson said on Tuesday that a portion of mailers that were scheduled to be delivered to targeted voters in Fargo were delivered to the downtown post office on Oct. 29 so they could be delivered to households between Oct. 31 and Nov. 2.
He said the mailers didn’t arrive at the Prairiewood office, the office that would deliver to addresses in the district, until Nov. 10.
Olafson lost his bid for Fargo’s District 10 senate seat by 38 votes, and said the targeted mailers could have been the difference in the election.
Olafson said he spoke with the Prairiewood Post Office branch manager Monday who told him they would investigate what happened and get back to him by the end of the day, but he hadn’t heard anything as of Tuesday morning.
KFGO News left a message to speak with the Prairiewood Post Office branch manager, but that request was declined.
Olafson previously served as a senator in the old District 10 in Pembina and Cavalier counties from 2006-2012.
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