Election officials say U.S. Postal Service woes place election mail at risk

A letter from election officials in all 50 states and D.C. said the agency needed to take immediate action.

Election officials sounded the alarm Wednesday in a letter to the U.S. Postal Service that says the agency needs to take urgent action to improve the delivery of election-related mail like mail-in ballots.

The letter, representing state and local election officials in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, comes shortly after the Postal Service touted its achievements on election mail in recent election cycles, even as election officials have been increasingly vocal over their concerns regarding USPS and mail-in ballots.

“Over the course of the last year, election officials across the country have raised serious questions about processing facility operations, lost or delayed election mail, and front-line training deficiencies impacting USPS’s ability to deliver election mail in a timely and accurate manner,” reads the letter, headlined by the current and incoming leaders of the National Association of Secretaries of State and the National Association of State Election Directors. “Despite repeated engagement with USPS Election and Political Mail headquarters staff and state/regional Managers of Customer Relations, we have not seen improvement or concerted efforts to remediate our concerns.”

Voters could become disenfranchised if the Postal Service doesn’t act, according to the letter.

“We implore you to take immediate and tangible corrective action to address the ongoing performance issues with USPS election mail service,” it states. “Failure to do so will risk limiting voter participation and trust in the election process.”

Asked for comment, the USPS said “we have promptly addressed those concerns, and we will continue to do so.” The agency it’s in the midst of network modernization, and “we note in that regard that on average, we are currently delivering mail in 2.7 days, although we continue to recommend as a common-sense measure that voters should mail their completed ballot before Election Day, and at least one week prior to their state’s deadline.”

USPS nearly two weeks ago briefed the media on its efforts to handle election mail in both past cycles and in 2024.

It touted its delivery of 99.89% of ballots from voters to election officials within one week during the 2020 election, with 2022 coming in at 99.3%. It said it would implement additional pickups, extra deliveries and more for the 2024 cycle.

“Our letter carriers and facilities teams across the country, the 640,000 women and men of the Postal Service, are fully focused on the critical mission of delivering the nation’s election mail — just as we have done so excellently through this current primary season and as we have done in the past,” said Postmaster General and CEO Louis DeJoy. “We are proud to do our part to help citizens’ who choose to use the mail to vote to do so effectively.”

But the election officials, in their letter, pointed to a recent inspector general report that found faults similar to their complaints. 

Their concerns include inconsistent training for staff on issues like guidance to election officials, long delivery times and mail being returned as undeliverable.

Election officials in Virginia, Kansas and elsewhere have been criticizing the Postal Service about the state of election mail delivery this year. Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab said earlier this week in a separate letter to the Postal Service that late delivery or the lack of proper postmarks during the state’s primary election led to nearly 1,000 ballots being ruled ineligible. 

The status of mailed ballots aren’t the only delivery challenges the Postal Service faces. Given the threats to election workers in recent cycles, a top official with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service said violence was his “greatest concern” for 2024 and that his agency and the FBI are working to guide election officials on suspicious packages.

The Associated Press first reported on the Wednesday letter from election officials.

This story was updated Sept. 12, 2024 with comments from USPS.

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