Public backlash over U.S. election mail ---------------------------------------------- The loss-making U.S. Postal Service is facing service disruptions that have slowed mail delivery ahead of a presidential election that could see up to 80 million U.S. voters casting ballots by mail ---------------------------------------------- U.S. Postal Service revenue ($ billion) *Financial year starts October 1 Mail Parcels -0.0 Loss ---------------------------------------------- Oct 1-Jun 30 67.07 65.73 65.25 66.03 64.84 66.02 71.53 69.69 70.63 71.14 54.83 8.46 8.99 11.53 13.78 13.54 15.08 18.61 20.82 21.47 22.79 20.74 -8.5 -5.1 -15.9 -5.0 -5.5 -5.1 -5.6 -2.7 -3.9 -8.8 -7.5 09-10 10-11 11-12 12-13 13-14 14-15 15-16 16-17 17-18 18-19 19-20* ---------------------------------------------- Postal Service: 633,000 postal workers process some 500 million pieces of mail every day ---------------------------------------------- Jun 15, 2020: Trump campaign megadonor Louis DeJoy appointed Postmaster General. In bid to cut costs, DeJoy orders changes in mail delivery policies. Postal Service loses $7.5 billion in first three quarters of 2019-20 ---------------------------------------------- Jul: DeJoy bans postal workers from working overtime and making extra trips to deliver mail on time. Postal Service proposal to close post offices to cut costs, sparks alarm ahead of anticipated surge of mail-in ballots ---------------------------------------------- Aug: Postal Service begins removing more than 670 mail- sorting machines nationwide. Machines can sort up to 30,000 mail-in ballots per shift. Hundreds of curbside mailboxes removed ---------------------------------------------- Aug 12: Election officials are warned that some ballots may not be delivered in time to be counted ---------------------------------------------- Aug 22: Emergency vote in Congress on legislation to provide $25 billion to support Postal Service and prohibit any changes to level of service ---------------------------------------------- Aug 24: Embattled DeJoy to testify before Congress ---------------------------------------------- Sources: Associated Press, CNN, Reuters, USPS Picture: USPS/Daniel Afzal © GRAPHIC NEWS