Vt. Congressional delegation concerned about removal of mail sorting machine from WRJ USPS facility

Published: Oct. 14, 2020 at 12:18 AM EDT
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WHITE RIVER JUNCTION, Vt. (WCAX) - Vermont’s Congressional delegation is demanding that a mail processing machine removed from White River Junction postal facility be replaced.

In a letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, the delegation says that a new machine has been in the works to be installed for months, but that they just found out the work won’t be done until January 2021. “This timing is both unacceptable and another example of this administration’s attempt to sabotage the Postal Service and the 2020 election," the lawmakers said in the letter.

They say one of the machines was recently removed, leaving only one operational one. That machine broke down at least once last weekend, forcing employees to process mail by hand, significantly delaying the process.

“Waiting until 2021 to get this new machine to Vermont will present undue harm to the hundreds of thousands of Vermonters who have been given the ability to vote by mail by November 3rd as well as Vermont’s seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities who rely on the Postal Service for the delivery of their prescriptions,” concluded the Vermont delegation. “It will also further harm all those who will be separated from their families this holiday season if they are unable to rely on promise of the U.S. Postal Service to receive mail from loved ones – a small but critically important way to reduce isolation, depression, and loneliness, particularly for older, more isolated Vermonters.”

Louis DeJoy has been under fire since this summer when the nationwide cost-cutting measures were first announced. A judge last month issued a nationwide injunction to halt the changes that have resulted in mail delivery delays.

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