The U.S. Postal Service announced that it plans to remove high-volume mail-processing machines in hundreds of locations sparking fears that it could reduce the ability to process mail during the elections.
“Look at it this way: Your local grocery store was forced to cut [a third] of its cash-out lines, but management expected the same productivity, quality and speed for the customer,” said a worker at the Buffalo, Iowa USPS distribution facility in an interview with Vice. “It’s just never going to happen.”
President Donald J. Trump has vocally attacked voting by mail in recent weeks, claiming that the practice leads to mass fraud. He also openly stated on Thursday that he’s starving the USPS of money to make it harder to process an expected surge of mail-in ballots, which he worries could cost him the election.
USPS operates 671 machines used to organize mail which is to be reduced in dozens of cities over the coming months, according to CNN. The agency started removing machines in June, according to postal workers.
“I’m not sure you’re going to find an answer for why [the machines being removed] makes sense,” said Iowa Postal Workers Union President Kimberly Karol in an interview with Vice. “Because we haven’t figured that out either.”
Newly appointed Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has been a major donor to the president before taking over the sprawling mail service, said that the postal service has ample capacity to handle the predicted surge in mail-in ballots in the coming months.
“This organizational change will capture operating efficiencies by providing clarity and economies of scale that will allow us to reduce our cost base and capture new revenue,” said DeJoy on Aug. 7.
