On Wednesday, state and local election officials from across the country warned that issues with the mail delivery system could disenfranchise voters in the upcoming presidential election. In a concerning letter, they informed the U.S. Postal Service head that ongoing deficiencies have not been addressed.
Officials reported that over the past year and during the recent primary season, mailed ballots postmarked on time were often received days past the counting deadline.
They also highlighted issues with properly addressed election mail being returned as undeliverable, which could inadvertently place voters on inactive status and cause confusion when they attempt to vote.
The officials also stated that their repeated attempts to address these issues with the Postal Service had been unsuccessful, noting that the widespread nature of the problems indicated that they were not isolated incidents or issues with specific facilities but rather a systemic failure to understand and enforce USPS policies among employees.
The letter addressed to U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy was sent by two organizations representing election administrators nationwide. They expressed to DeJoy that there had been no noticeable improvement or significant efforts to address their concerns.
“We implore you to take immediate and tangible corrective action to address the ongoing performance issues with USPS election mail service,” they added.
“Failure to do so will risk limiting voter participation and trust in the election process.”
The National Association of Secretaries of State and the National Association of State Election Directors reported that local election officials in nearly every state are receiving postmarked ballots after Election Day, often outside the USPS’s claimed standard of three to five business days for first-class mail.
The letter was sent less than two weeks after DeJoy assured in an interview that the Postal Service was prepared to manage the expected surge of mail ballots for this November’s presidential election.
The news comes as former President Donald Trump continues to voice that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him, pointing out the discrepancies that have recently been discovered.
Many voters have grown accustomed to mail-in voting, and both Democrats and Republicans are encouraging early voting, either in person or by mail, to secure votes ahead of Election Day on Nov. 5, according to the Associated Press.
The letter was sent on the same day that absentee voters in Alabama began receiving the first mailed ballots for this year’s general election. Last month, Postal Service officials reported that nearly 98 percent of ballots were returned to election offices within three days during the 2020 election, and this number rose to almost 99 percent in 2022, the outlet reported.
DeJoy expressed his goal to reach closer to 100 percent this election and stated that the Postal Service is now better equipped to handle ballots than it was four years ago.
Election officials have cautioned that if any election mail is returned to an office as undeliverable, it could initiate a process required by federal law to maintain accurate voter registration lists.
As a result, a voter could be marked as “inactive” and would need to take extra steps to confirm their address in order to participate in the election, the officials explained in their letter.
