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NEW: @jacobbogage got USPS data showing at least 671 USPS mail sorting machines have been removed across the country since June. Represents a reduction in national mail sorting capacity of 21.4 million pieces of mail per hour. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/usps-states-delayed-mail-in-ballots/2020/08/14/64bf3c3c-dcc7-11ea-8051-d5f887d73381_story.html
The removals represent about 10 percent of the USPS stock of sorting machines. Removals are happening in every state but Alaska. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/usps-states-delayed-mail-in-ballots/2020/08/14/64bf3c3c-dcc7-11ea-8051-d5f887d73381_story.html
A number of cities in key swing states -- Houston TX, Pontiac MI, and Columbus OH -- have been affected by some of the biggest losses in sorting capacity. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/usps-states-delayed-mail-in-ballots/2020/08/14/64bf3c3c-dcc7-11ea-8051-d5f887d73381_story.html
One word of caution. A lot of folks are looking at the map and saying these removals are targeted at Dem. strongholds. We don't know that. Dem. strongholds tend to be population centers. The removals may simply be following population patterns.
But on the other hand we don't *not* know that either because USPS hasn't provided any clear public rationale for why they're doing what they're doing.
At the very least, making this kind of radical overhaul to a critical system in an unprecedented election year seems like a very iffy proposition. It's not clear why all these changes have to be done *right now*, rather than postponing them a year given the pandemic.
