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There is no USPS shutdown. There has been no change in USPS operations and there is nothing preventing the USPS from supporting elections via mail-in ballots. This is a crazy conspiracy that has gone mainstream among the left and media.
The USPS has been mismanaged for a long time. However, the treasury offered them a $10 billion relief loan at the end of July if they need it. They haven’t and likely won’t need it bc increased package mail during the pandemic has actually grown their cash on hand significantly.
Dems have been pushing a bailout for the USPS, but that has nothing to do with daily operations. Projections have them covered until late in 2021 & mail voting would make up small % of their activity. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/06/25/postal-service-packages-coronavirus/
This conspiracy has been partially fueled by bad reporting and framing of standard USPS activities such as shifting mailbox locations as some attempt at suppression. USPS has frozen those activities until after Nov just to avoid the outrage/misinformation. https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/14/politics/usps-removes-letter-collection-boxes-reduces-post-office-operating-hours/index.html
Of course all conspiracies have some kernels of truth. In this case, Trump helped fuel it with stupid comments that tied the refusal to bail out the USPS to opposition to mail-in voting. Of course Trump, as usual, had not actual idea what he was talking about.
And to be clear: Trump saying that refusal to give the USPS a massive bailout would hurt attempts to institute mail-in voting is evidence Trump believes that, not that it’s actually true or that the USPS is actively undermining the voting process. There is a difference.
Anyways, the press and responsible people should not be encouraging this conspiracy. As for the underlying issue, there are real solution on the table that would ensure voting access and protect election integrity: https://twitter.com/aghamilton29/status/1294632530197598208?s=21 https://twitter.com/aghamilton29/status/1294632530197598208
I should clarify one line. When I said "no change in USPS operations" I meant the way it operates/supports, obviously, as with most organizations/agencies, there have been hours/pay cuts and structural changes in response to COVID-19 to try to maintain financial stability.
