A United States Postal Service (USPS) processing center in Florida’s West Palm Beach recently lost at least 15 percent of its mail sorting machines, even as postage centers across the country prepare for a record number of mail-in ballots cast ahead of Election Day.
Union president Kevin Young, who heads a local branch of the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) representing the Palm Beach area, told reporters at South Florida news outlet TCPalm that four sorting machines were out of commission at the USPS center on Wednesday. Young said the affected machines were dismantled over the past month, when broad changes to USPS procedures sparked national concerns about whether the service would be able to manage an influx of mail-in ballots come November.