State and local elections officials from across the country are warning that problems within the U.S. Postal Service could disenfranchise thousands of voters because their mail-in ballots aren’t delivered on time.
The officials from both red states and blue – including Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Maine, Massachusetts, Ohio and several others – sent a letter to U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy pointing out their concerns.
During primary elections across the U.S., the letters says, “local election officials are receiving timely postmarked ballots well after Election Day and well outside the three to five business days USPS claims is the First Class delivery standard. For example, election officials in multiple states report receiving anywhere from dozens to hundreds of ballots 10 or more days after postmark.”
Similar issues in November would lead to those late-arriving ballots not being counted.
There also are instances of election mail with valid addresses being returned to elections offices by USPS as undeliverable.
“We implore you to take immediate and tangible corrective action to address the ongoing performance issues with USPS election mail service,” they wrote. “Failure to do so will risk limiting voter participation and trust in the election process.”
