The purpose of this site is to present data to those who will be impacted by the recent changes in the USPS this election cycle. The data we have presented is not meant to point fingers or make any accusations. What we can conclude from this data is that there will be some individuals who will be disproportionately impacted by the recent changes. Therefore, we encourage you to see if your county is affected and understand that this may negatively impact your vote.
The sorting machine removal data you see here was provided directly from the USPS to the Washington Post, and they kindly shared the original data with us. It is important to point out that we know that approximately 92% of these machines were removed by August 1st, we have not been able to confirm if any others were removed after this date.
For the 2016 election data we cited the New York Times, but the election results can be found on any news site that covered the 2016 presidential election. We utilized this data to determine the designation of political preference on the map. However, we took into account areas that were impacted and also flipped in 2018. We sourced this data from the CNN election outcome, but it can be found in any other news website that covered the 2018 election. When determining the categorization of flipped counties, we considered only the gubernatorial election and only covered counties that were impacted by the removal of sorting machines.
If you would like more information on our sources or methodology, please contact us at: contact@uspsimpact2020.com
1. Here’s why the Postal Service wanted to remove hundreds of mail-sorting machines. The Washington Post. Retrieved 20 August 2020.*
2. Presidential Election Results: Donald J. Trump Wins. The New York Times. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
3. Senate Election Results 2018. CNN. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
4. Texas Governor Election Results 2018. CNN. Retrieved 22 August 2020.