A video of a mail collection box being removed in downtown Traverse City this week sparked fears that U.S. Postal Service cuts are being implemented across the community.

The box removal turned out to be a replacement project – but union president Vince Nichols of the American Postal Workers Union Traverse City Area Local 531 says there are legitimate reasons to be concerned about service impacts, from the removal of two local mail sorting machines to the elimination of early overtime for workers to mandated strict departure times for trucks that could delay mail deliveries. Nichols and other officials – including local clerks and Democratic and Republican representatives – are encouraging residents to vote early this election to ensure their ballots are counted.

Linda Nash recorded a video Tuesday of a worker removing a mail collection box near the corner of Park and Front streets. The video quickly went viral on social media, prompting concerns that nationally debated cuts in USPS services were being implemented in Traverse City. But SaBrina Todd, a Michigan spokesperson for the USPS, says the collection box in question was “damaged beyond repair, so it was removed and then replaced with a new one.” The Ticker verified a new box was installed this week in the location of the old removed box.

Nichols of the local postal workers union says other changes are underway, however, that merit more concern. In the last few weeks, two of the six large mail sorting machines at the Traverse City processing plant were removed, leaving just four in production, Nichols says. “They tore down one that was totally dismantled and sent it out of here, and they took one apart and used some parts here and sent the rest out,” he says. When asked to confirm the machine removals, Todd said she couldn’t speak about “specific actions regarding specific machines” in Michigan, adding that “the location of machines in our vast processing network is based on operational needs, including changing mail volumes, and adjustments have always been made.”

Those comments echo a USPS statement released last week just prior to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s testimony before Congress on changes underway under his management. In the statement, the USPS said removing blue collection boxes was a decades-old protocol and that sorting machines are only used about one third of their available machine hours, meaning there is “ample machine capacity to handle spikes in mail volume” even when some machines are removed. DeJoy said that going forward until the election, however, mail processing equipment and blue collection boxes will remain in place where they are in order “to avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail.”

But Nichols says other USPS changes under DeJoy could pose challenges, including eliminating early overtime for workers and requiring mail trucks to follow a strict departure time each morning. If connecting trucks bringing in mail from downstate areas like Grand Rapids are even a few minutes late in the morning, he says, Traverse City trucks have to depart on their routes without those letters and packages – meaning deliveries can go out below capacity and residents can experience mail delays.

“When you get into October and November and the snow comes, you always have delayed trucks,” Nichols says. “What happens if a truck is just a few minutes late (getting into Traverse City)? It’s the local people who know what’s going on, but they’re not getting authority from the postmaster general to make those decisions at the local level.” Workers also can’t accrue early overtime, meaning they can’t come in and work early in the morning, but can stay later at the end of the day – a system Nichols says is “backward” to what is needed for staffing.

Traverse City Area Local 531 Vice President Ron Krumrie, a military veteran, receives VA prescription shipments from downstate. His primary concern is that it could take a lot longer for those prescriptions to arrive when mail deliveries are delayed – a worry he believes is common to many Americans. Nichols adds that while each policy change on its own – removal of sorting machines, overtime changes, stricter truck departures – could potentially be manageable, combined they could easily snowball, especially near or on Election Day. “I think if they waited to do these changes after the election, it would have helped,” he says. “When you start messing with all those things right close to the election, that’s what triggered people to get worried.”

National debate has in fact primarily focused on whether USPS changes could impact the election. In a statement to The Ticker, U.S. Senator Gary Peters said “timely mail service has never been more important to our communities,” adding that “it’s clear that recent changes directed by Postmaster General DeJoy are slowing mail delivery. This is not only about vote by mail and the upcoming election, but Michiganders’ livelihood and well-being.” Peters said he will continue to push for “legislation to block harmful operational changes that delay mail service during this pandemic and to provide more federal funding to support the Postal Service.”

State Sen. Wayne Schmidt, R-Traverse City, says he believes tweaks to some USPS services like mail sorting are merited given decreasing levels of certain types of mail – like first-class letters – and increasing levels of others, like parcels and packages. “I think part of this is shifting from one type of mail to another,” he says. When it comes to the election, Schmidt says he believes in the validity and security of absentee voting by mail, encouraging residents to vote early this year to ensure their ballots are counted. “People have been voting absentee and mailing ballots in for a long time,” Schmidt says. “It is still very safe and secure. I have confidence in our postal workers.”

Those comments are reiterated by Traverse City Clerk Benjamin Marentette, who says he met with Traverse City Postmaster Darren Whipple this week to discuss the election. Both are confident, according to Marentette, that the local postal system can handle the record influx of absentee ballots anticipated this fall, when up to 80 percent of Traverse City voters are expected to vote by mail (Whipple declined to be interviewed, directing questions to Todd). “The post office handles a tremendous amount of mail and packages in the holiday season, so they have experience and proven effectiveness with being able to handle large surges,” Marentette says.

Marentette notes that voters can request absentee ballots for the fall election now, with ballots expected to be ready by late September. General election absentee ballots in Traverse City will include prepaid return postage, so voters won’t have to worry about paying for stamps to return them. Marentette encourages voters to return their ballots as soon as possible, saying it will help with staffing workloads and ensuring ballots are received in time. He notes that if something happens late in the election cycle – for instance, a last-minute controversy emerges with a candidate – voters can request to “spoil” their ballot and fill out a new one if they change their mind about their selections.

As with most Michigan communities, Traverse City also has a dropbox available at the Governmental Center if voters prefer to drop off their completed ballots rather than mail them. Voters can contact their local clerk to confirm their ballot has been received, Marentette says. The city clerk says his office is “prepared for the extraordinary amount of people expected to be voting absentee” this election, adding that his primary concern about the election is “misinformation” circulating about the safety of voting by mail. “It’s absolutely secure and safe,” he says. “There has been no instance of voting fraud when it comes to absentee voting that has altered the outcome of an election.”