Postmaster General Louis DeJoy made a promise last week to suspend all radical changes made to the USPS that was significantly slowing down mail production and deliveries, but it appears some states like Michigan are continuing to dismantle their mail sorting machines.
Although DeJoy was making moves to decommission over 600 sorting machines across the U.S., he announced early last week he would suspend all efforts to “improve the USPS.”
“I believe significant reforms are essential… and work toward those reforms will commence after the election,” states DeJoy.
His decision comes as 20 states’ attorney generals threatened a potential lawsuit if major changes continued at the post offices.
According to Truthout, many critics noted that removing sorting machines, as well as changes to employees’ working hours at post offices across the country, would make it more difficult for voters to participate in mail-in voting during this year’s presidential election.
Despite DeJoy’s promise, Michigan is still dismantling and throwing out these sorting machines as Heather Walker, a reporter with Grand Rapids, Michigan, television station WOOD-TV, tweeted:
.@USPS GR Patterson location has pieces of the mail sorting machines out in the parking lot. @WOODTV pic.twitter.com/OuugjhTbfE
— Heather Walker (@_HeatherWalker) August 19, 2020
Michigan’s governor, Gretchen Whitmer, urges people across the U.S. to contact the office of their state attorney general if they come across any more machines being dismantled.
“We have to fight back to protect the U.S. postal system. This is about our election at the end of the day, and we’ve got to ensure that every vote gets counted,” says Whitmer.
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