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Amber Faye McReynolds (born 1979) is an American politician serving since 2024 as chair of the
Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service The Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service is the governing body of the United States Postal Service (USPS). The board oversees the activities of the Postal Service, while the postmaster general actively manages its day-to-day ...
. McReynolds is a member of the National Council on Election Integrity, the National Task Force on Election Crises, and the Board of Directors for Represent Women.


Education

McReynolds is from
Kewanee, Illinois Kewanee () is a city in Henry County, Illinois, Henry County, Illinois. "Kewanee" is the Ho-Chunk, Winnebago word for greater prairie-chicken, which lived there. The population was 12,509 in the 2020 census, down from 12,916 in 2010. Geography ...
. Her father was a defense attorney and judge. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the
University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...
and a Master of Science from the
London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...
.


Career

McReynolds worked at the office of the
Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...
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. 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. In 2018 she was named one of ''Governing'''s Public Officials of the Year. In August 2018 she became CEO of the National Vote at Home Institute to advocate for universal
postal voting Postal voting is voting in an election where ballot papers are distributed to electors (and typically returned) by Mail, post, in contrast to electors voting in person at a polling place, polling station or electronically via an electronic voti ...
, which they say increases
voter turnout In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This is typically either the percentage of Voter registration, registered voters, Suffrage, eligible voters, or all Voti ...
, reduces administration costs, promotes equity by providing easier methods to vote, and is secure against fraud. 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. McReynolds testified before Congress twice about voting safely during a pandemic and election security. Then-California Secretary of State
Alex Padilla Alejandro Padilla (born March 22, 1973) is an American politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from California, a seat he has held since 2021. A member of the Democrati ...
said McReynolds influenced and advised California's mailing of ballots to every voter, and Georgia Secretary of State
Brad Raffensperger Bradford Jay Raffensperger (born May 18, 1955) is an American businessman, civil engineer, and politician serving as the Georgia Secretary of State, secretary of state of Georgia since 2019. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Repub ...
's office used McReynolds's advice on implementing the system. 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. 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 The Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service is the governing body of the United States Postal Service (USPS). The board oversees the activities of the Postal Service, while the postmaster general actively manages its day-to-day ...
. On March 15, 2021, her nomination was sent to the Senate. President Biden nominated McReynolds to the seat vacated by David C. Williams. She was confirmed by the Senate, 59–38, on May 13, 2021 to a term expiring December 8, 2026. On June 15, 2021, she was sworn into office by
Susan Rice Susan Elizabeth Rice (born November 17, 1964) is an American diplomat, policy advisor, and public official. As a member of the Democratic Party, Rice served as the 22nd director of the United States Domestic Policy Council from 2021 to 2023, a ...
. 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. She co-wrote the election reform handbook ''When Women Vote'' in January 2020. McReynolds is also on the founding board of directors of the National Association of Nonpartisan Reformers.


References


External links


Amber F. McReynolds – USPS Board of Governors
{{DEFAULTSORT:McReynolds, Amber 1979 births Alumni of the London School of Economics Living people People from Kewanee, Illinois United States Postal Service people University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni