ST. LOUIS — Amid all the confusion and concern with the election and mail-in voting, the United States Postal Service said it will stop removing collection boxes for 90 days, until after Election Day.
These blue boxes weren't always blue, but they've been disappearing for decades.
So, 5 On Your Side looked into why these collection boxes are removed in the first place.
In order to understand the fate of some of those blue boxes on corners and in neighborhoods across the country, you have to go back in time to when the very first collection box was introduced.
The first design was cast iron and was put on light posts on the streets of Boston, Philadelphia and New York City back in the 1850s.
Over the years, the size, shape and colors changed. There were small ones meant just for letters and big ones meant to hold packages. The number of these collection boxes grew.
According to USPS, at its peak in 2000, there were 365,000 collection boxes across the U.S. As time went on, that number went down drastically. In 2015, USPS said there were just under 154,000 boxes.
So, why are these boxes getting removed? In 1974, new postal guidelines said boxes that averaged fewer than 25 pieces of mail a day should be considered for removal to save fuel and labor.
However, the number of boxes seen hauled away in recent weeks in pictures posted to social media, has drawn criticism and skepticism. In response, USPS has decided to freeze the removal until after the election in November.