(AP Photo/David Goldman)
Did you hear the conspiracy theory that Donald Trump is
sabotaging the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) by removing mail collection boxes in
several states?
Yeah, it’s a real doozy, but apparently that’s what the
left wants us to believe. Outcry over the removal of collection boxes actually
forced the USPS to suspend the removal of collection boxes until after the
election.
Joe Biden even chimed in on the so-called controversy,
calling it “bizarre.”
“I was joking earlier with a couple on the call, ‘I
wonder if you’re outside trying to hold down your mailboxes.’ They’re going
around literally with tractor-trailers picking up mailboxes,” he said. “You
oughta go online and check out what they’re doing in Oregon. I mean, it’s
bizarre!”
“President Trump has made no secret about his desire to
suppress voting in the November 2020 election,” said American Federation of Government Employees
National President Everett Kelley. “His effort to raise doubts about the U.S.
Postal Service’s ability to deliver ballots cast by mail is just one example of
how he hopes to dissuade Americans from voting.”
Democrats are calling the removal of collection boxes
“voter suppression,” and Senator Jon Tester (D-Mt.) is calling for an investigation.
Pop singer-turned-political-whiner Taylor Swift
even accused Trump of being behind a “calculated
dismantling of USPS.”
But the fact is the removal of mail collection boxes has
been going on for years as part of cost-cutting efforts for the postal service
and had nothing to do with the 2020 election.
In September 2016, the USPS inspector general noted that “Nationally, the number of collection boxes
declined by more than 12,000 in the past 5 years.” This means that the USPS,
during the Obama-Biden administration, removed thousands of mail collection
boxes. Was this a diabolical plan by Obama and Biden to suppress the vote in
2020? Did Trump make them do it?
The decision to do so was explained thusly:
Some customers have complained the U.S. Postal Service
has gone too far and removed too many collection boxes in neighborhoods.
They’ve also questioned whether this effort is saving USPS money in the long
run.
It’s a tough balancing act for the Postal Service. Some
collection boxes are barely used and are expensive to maintain. On the other
hand, mail collection boxes are a visible representation of the Postal Service
to the American public, and their disappearance has been noted. They also are
reliable, secure, and convenient receptacles for mail.
As part of its efforts to keep its collection
infrastructure proportionate to customers’ needs at a reasonable cost, the
Postal Service has eliminated underused collection boxes that on average
receive fewer than 25 pieces a day; it has also added collection boxes where
they are convenient for customers.
USPS spokeswoman Kimberly Frum told The Hill that installation and
removal of USPS collection boxes has been going on for decades. “It is a fluid
process and figures can vary from day-to-day. Historically, mail boxes have
been removed for lack of use and installed in growth areas,” she explained.
“When a collection box consistently receives very small amounts of mail for
months on end, it costs the Postal Service money in fuel and workhours for
letter carriers to drive to the mailbox and collect the mail. Removing the box
is simply good business sense in that respect. It is important to note that
anyone with a residential or business mailbox can use it as a vehicle to send
outgoing mail.”
She also noted that removal of a box is made on a
case-by-case basis and low-volume boxes are kept if they are the only means of
sending mail in certain areas.
“In the past few years, greater emphasis has been placed
on stabilizing the number of collection boxes in use and relocating low-use
boxes to high traffic areas such as shopping centers, business parks, grocery
stores, etc., for increased customer convenience,” Frum said. “Additionally,
collection times vary depending on location and may be changed based on
transportation schedules. In the event a collection box schedule changes,
advanced notice would be placed on the box to inform customers.”
The USPS had been trying to save money long before Trump
was in office, and the strategic placement of removal of collection boxes is a
part of that. This isn’t about a plot to undermine the USPS. If Trump was
trying to sabotage the 2020 election by removing collection boxes, I guess
Obama and Biden were too.
