More USPS Interference in November Elections

Hank77

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Dozens of Montana USPS drop boxes to be removed
Sen. Jon Tester sounded the alarm Thursday evening, sending a letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, demanding answers about how many collection boxes have been removed in Montana and the rationale behind those directives.
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Sen. Steve Daines issued a statement after writing a letter to Postmaster General to investigate the removal of USPS collection boxes.
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NBC Montana confirmed with the Montana State Association of the National Association of Letter Carriers the orders to remove 13 boxes in Missoula, 9 in Bozeman, 3 in Lewistown and 30 in Billings.
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Frum added that in the past few years, the USPS has relocated low-use boxes to high traffic areas such as shopping centers, business parks, grocery stores, etc. We responded, asking why boxes in front of a Missoula Target store and other high traffic corridors would have been moved or removed.

Dozens of Montana USPS drop boxes to be removed

The list of boxes removed or moved is in the article. One was a box in front of the Missoula County Courthouse and another was in front of a senior citizen facility and office buildings.


Removal of USPS drop boxes on hold
MISSOULA, Mont. — UPDATE: At 3:10 Friday afternoon, NBC Montana confirmed that the removal of USPS collection boxes has been put on hold statewide. A union leader says the decision came after Friday's pressure.

In an email, a USPS representative said, "The normal operational procedure of adding/removing collections boxes based on the analysis of increases/decreases in mail volume have been placed on hold."
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Governor Steve Bullock today wrote a letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy requesting answers to why United Sates Postal Service collection boxes in Montana are being removed and requested information regarding changes to operations that have caused delays in mail delivery.
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“Simply put, Montanans cannot afford to see their access to the Post Office cut. The challenges you face to ensure the USPS remains financially stable are no excuse. It is of the utmost importance that the decisions you make are transparent and made in collaboration with our state and local governments and the communities who rely on the USPS to connect with the rest of the country and world,” Governor Bullock continued.

Removal of USPS drop boxes on hold

All the states were slated for the same removal of USPS mail drop boxes but thanks to the Governor, Senators, and Representative of Montana putting pressure on Dejoy he has backed off for now. I wouldn't be surprised if after the election everything goes back to normal in the USPS.

But that's not all the monkey business he/they has been up to which is causing the mail to be delayed.
 
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wing2000

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....this seems reasonable to me (if in fact, the USPS is removing them on this basis)

upload_2020-8-15_10-49-29.png
 
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Hank77

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Why are sorting machines being taken from U.S. Post offices?
That scenario has several Members of Congress very concerned after seeing an internal memo from the U.S. Postal Service indicating 671 sorting machines are being pulled from post offices nationwide - including five from Buffalo's main post office and processing facility on William Street.
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A lot of seniors are reaching out to us because they are dependent upon the postal service for their medication," said Republican Congressman Tom Reed during an interview on WBEN Radio.

Responding to a rising number of mail delivery complaints, Reed is also looking for answers; "Why are you doing that? We want more effective and efficient delivery of our postal services, not less."
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Frank Resetarits, President of the American Postal Workers Union Local 374, said workers inside the Buffalo William Street processing plant told him five of twenty 'Delivery Bar Code Sorters' have already been dismantled.

The loss of the sorters, along with strict rules for overtime, have meant delivery trucks are leaving behind piles of unsorted mail on a regular basis - including Express Mail, said Resetarits. "The trucks leave whether the mail is ready or not. We are experiencing service delays."
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Resetarits explained the "Delivery Bar Code Sorters' are used to sift through piles of mail and put them into bundles for each carrier's route. He said the post office is attempting to retrofit some of the other sorters to handle more mail, but the effort has not been successful yet.
Why are sorting machines being taken from U.S. Post offices?

Election ballots have bar codes on the envelopes to make them easily sortable by these 'Delivery Bar Code Sorters' and to identify them for the county to read voter information.

See the example of bar codes and what they are used for on the two ballot envelopes. See #6 which is used to sort and deliver the ballot.
https://sfelections.sfgov.org/ftp/uploadedfiles/elections/Voting/VBMReturnEnvelope.pdf

I can't see any reasonable explanation for why it is necessary to implement these changes just before this election, can you?

 
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wing2000

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Why are sorting machines being taken from U.S. Post offices?
That scenario has several Members of Congress very concerned after seeing an internal memo from the U.S. Postal Service indicating 671 sorting machines are being pulled from post offices nationwide - including five from Buffalo's main post office and processing facility on William Street.
...

A lot of seniors are reaching out to us because they are dependent upon the postal service for their medication," said Republican Congressman Tom Reed during an interview on WBEN Radio.

Responding to a rising number of mail delivery complaints, Reed is also looking for answers; "Why are you doing that? We want more effective and efficient delivery of our postal services, not less."
...
Frank Resetarits, President of the American Postal Workers Union Local 374, said workers inside the Buffalo William Street processing plant told him five of twenty 'Delivery Bar Code Sorters' have already been dismantled.

The loss of the sorters, along with strict rules for overtime, have meant delivery trucks are leaving behind piles of unsorted mail on a regular basis - including Express Mail, said Resetarits. "The trucks leave whether the mail is ready or not. We are experiencing service delays."
...
Resetarits explained the "Delivery Bar Code Sorters' are used to sift through piles of mail and put them into bundles for each carrier's route. He said the post office is attempting to retrofit some of the other sorters to handle more mail, but the effort has not been successful yet.
Why are sorting machines being taken from U.S. Post offices?

Election ballots have bar codes on the envelopes to make them easily sortable by these 'Delivery Bar Code Sorters' and to identify them for the county to read voter information.

See the example of bar codes and what they are used for on the two ballot envelopes. See #6 which is used to sort and deliver the ballot.
https://sfelections.sfgov.org/ftp/uploadedfiles/elections/Voting/VBMReturnEnvelope.pdf

I can't see any reasonable explanation for why it is necessary to implement these changes just before this election, can you?

No. If anything, the USPS should be doing capacity assessments to handle the increase in volumes due to COVID. From what I understand, the increase is in parcel volume, not letters...which may explain why the high capacity bar code sorters are being removed. However, it would make sense to hold of on that step until after the election. If, say, 40% of registered voters end up voting by mail, that will have a huge impact on mail sorting centers and operations.
 
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Hank77

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From what I understand, the increase is in parcel volume, not letters...which may explain why the high capacity bar code sorters are being removed.
From the article...
The loss of the sorters, along with strict rules for overtime, have meant delivery trucks are leaving behind piles of unsorted mail on a regular basis.

If workers have to sort more letters by hand that means they aren't available to sort packages. It's not just packages that aren't getting sorted.
They want to cut back on overtime and at the same time expect the workers to sort letters by hand. That doesn't make any sense to me. Are they going to save money by not using the machines?
 
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MIDutch

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So, trump has been railing against mail in ballots for the past few months. He appoints a new postmaster general, Louis DeJoy, in June. Almost immediately, rules for how the post office functions change, including how mail is handled, how many hours postal workers can work (leaving huge amounts of undelivered mail), and the elimination of automated mail sorters and neighborhood mail boxes, and the warning that the postal service can no longer handle the expected volume of mail in ballots for many states around the country.

And conservatives want everyone to believe it's just a coincidink.
 
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DaisyDay

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DaisyDay

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....this seems reasonable to me (if in fact, the USPS is removing them on this basis)

View attachment 282852
The problem is that the postal service is not just a business, but an actual service. This should mean that inconvenient, not cost-effective people such as those in the rural areas still get service.
 
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wing2000

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The problem is that the postal service is not just a business, but an actual service. This should mean that inconvenient, not cost-effective people such as those in the rural areas still get service.

Agreed. However, even if we measure them as a business, their service levels are failing as a result of the new Postmaster's decisions. Cut overtime, leave mail to be sorted for the "next day" ...and see what happens.
 
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