No, Locking Up Mailboxes With Security Covers Is Not Proof of Mail In Voting Sabotage
Contrary to claims made on social media about the U.S. Postal Service, the post office is not locking up mailboxes to fulfill President Donald Trump’s effort to undermine mail-in voting.
Over the weekend, former NBA player Rex Chapman expressed outrage over a picture he posted of mailboxes that were sealed shut, which he declared “a disgrace and immediate threat to American democracy.”
Burbank, California:
In your entire life have you ever seen a LOCKED mailbox at the USPS?
Now you have.
A disgrace and immediate threat to American democracy. Shame on them. Shame on the GOP.
Where are you @senatemajldr ? pic.twitter.com/YcbVUTnv37
— Rex Chapman?? (@RexChapman) August 17, 2020
Chapman retweeted a number of people who saw his tweet and shared in his outrage.
https://twitter.com/waltshaub/status/1295176028244017152
https://twitter.com/FINALLEVEL/status/1295155259745042432
The problem though is that despite Chapman’s insinuations, this is actually standard practice for mailboxes.
ABC 7 noted that when the post office is closed, or if collections are done for the day, mailboxes are locked in order to prevent theft or vandalism. Furthermore, mailboxes can still be accessed from the other side.
As it turns out, vandalism and mail theft have been a problem for years, which is why Los Angeles Daily News wrote an article in 2016 about how the Postal Service was adopting new methods to secure mailboxes. The article mentioned the use of red caps to lock the top of mailboxes, which seems very much in line with the photo that drew Chapman’s ire.
Champan’s tweet got a great deal of online circulation, but there were those who pointed out the flaws of his claims.
