Amber McReynolds
Amber McReynolds | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Chair of the Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service | |
| Assumed office December 6, 2024 | |
| President | Joe Biden |
| Preceded by | Roman Martinez IV |
| Governor of the United States Postal Service | |
| Assumed office June 15, 2021 | |
| Appointed by | Joe Biden |
| Preceded by | David C. Williams |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1979 (age 44–45) |
| Political party | Independent |
| Education | University of Illinois (BS) London School of Economics (MS) |
Amber Faye McReynolds (born 1979[1]) is an American election administration expert who is a member of the Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service.[2] McReynolds is a member of the National Council on Election Integrity,[3] the National Task Force on Election Crises, and the Board of Directors for Represent Women.
Education
[edit]McReynolds is from Kewanee, Illinois. Her father was a defense attorney and judge.[4] She earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign and a Master of Science from the London School of Economics.[5]
Career
[edit]McReynolds worked at the office of the Denver Clerk and Recorder from 2005 to 2018, serving as the city's director of elections from 2011 to 2018. There she led the city's transition to a fully vote-by-mail election system.[4] Denver created the Ballot TRACE system, the first municipal program that notifies voters of the delivery and counting of their mailed ballots, and McReynolds introduced an app for electronic collection and verification of petition signatures.[6] In 2018 she was named one of Governing's Public Officials of the Year.[6]
In August 2018 she became CEO of the National Vote at Home Institute to advocate for universal postal voting, which they say increases voter turnout, reduces administration costs, promotes equity by providing easier methods to vote, and is secure against fraud.[7] She has provided advice to voters and election officials on adopting best practices for mail-in voting, including training of election workers, use of appropriate counting equipment, and educating voters. McReynolds and the Institute gained prominence in 2020, when many states expanded access to absentee ballots during the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing voters to vote at home by mail rather than in person. She provided recommendations for sending voters ballots and how to collect them.[8]
McReynolds testified before Congress twice about voting safely during a pandemic and election security.[9] Then-California Secretary of State Alex Padilla said McReynolds influenced and advised California's mailing of ballots to every voter, and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger's office used McReynolds's advice on implementing the system.[4][8] The National Vote at Home Institute provided reports for how states could implement vote-by-mail, and 65 million votes were cast by mail in the November 2020 election.[1]
On February 24, 2021, President Joe Biden announced that he would appoint McReynolds to a vacant seat on the Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service.[10][11] On March 15, 2021, her nomination was sent to the Senate. President Biden nominated McReynolds to the seat vacated by David C. Williams.[12] She was confirmed by the Senate, 59–38, on May 13, 2021 to a term expiring December 8, 2026.[13] On June 15, 2021, she was sworn into office by Susan Rice.[14] McReynolds is the only female Governor of the Postal Service and the first with experience with voting and elections. She is not affiliated with either of the two major American political parties.[1]
She co-wrote the election reform handbook When Women Vote in January 2020.[15] McReynolds is also on the founding board of directors of the National Association of Nonpartisan Reformers.[16]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "Biden picks vote-by-mail advocate for Postal Service board". The Fulcrum. February 25, 2021. Retrieved February 27, 2021.
- ^ "President Biden Announces Nominees for the United States Postal Service Board of Governors". The White House. February 24, 2021. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
- ^ "National Council on Election Integrity".
- ^ a b c "Meet the Leading Lady of Vote-by-Mail". OZY. July 13, 2020. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
- ^ DeVilder, Susan. "Kewanee's Amber McReynolds considered for U.S. Postal Services board spot". Kewanee Star Courier. Retrieved February 27, 2021.
- ^ a b "The Woman Who Made Denver the Nation's Best Place to Vote". www.governing.com. November 12, 2018. Retrieved February 27, 2021.
- ^ "Research". The National Vote at Home Institute. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
- ^ a b Abrams, Abigail (October 20, 2020). "Meet the Woman Behind the Push for Mail Voting". Time. Archived from the original on October 20, 2020. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
- ^ "Voting Safely in a Pandemic". Committee on House Administration. August 28, 2020. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
- ^ "Colorado elections expert nominated by Joe Biden to serve on U.S. Postal Service governing board". The Colorado Sun. February 24, 2021. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
- ^ Goodland, Marianne (February 24, 2021). "Former Denver elections chief Amber McReynolds tapped for USPS board of governors". Colorado Politics. Archived from the original on February 26, 2021. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
- ^ "Nominations Sent to the Senate", White House, March 15, 2021
- ^ "U.S. Senate: U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 117th Congress - 1st Session". www.senate.gov. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
- ^ @AmbRice46 (June 15, 2021). "During the pandemic, @USPS employees have been on the frontlines delivering for Americans. I was honored to swear in @AmberMcReynolds , Anton Hajjar & Ron Stroman as members of the Postal Service Board of Governors. I know they'll get right to work building USPS for the future" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "Amber McReynolds". The National Vote at Home Institute. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
- ^ "National Association of Nonpartisan Reformers". nonpartisanreformers.org. Retrieved March 11, 2021.