After meeting with Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, election officials continue to complain about the postmaster’s “abnormally long delivery times” and ballots being held up due to billing issues or returned as undeliverable. I have concerns. DeJoy said nearly all ballots are delivered within seven days and officials are working extra hard to get ballots to the election. office.
Election officials and lawmakers are concerned that U.S. Postal Service delays could leave thousands of votes uncounted in what could be a very close presidential election this year.
In a letter to postmaster generals last month, state election officials said there were “unusually long delivery times,” ballots being held up due to billing issues, and ballot mail being returned as undeliverable. He sounded the alarm about what was going on.
Lawmakers were outraged by the delivery delays, saying the consolidation of processing centers had significantly reduced on-time delivery of first-class mail in Atlanta. Richmond, Virginia. and Green Bay, Wisconsin.
“Voters should not have to worry about whether their ballot will be postmarked on time or whether it will arrive at the election center in time to be counted,” said Rep. David Joyce, R-Ohio. said.
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy told lawmakers at a Sept. 26 House hearing that nearly all ballots (more than 99%) are delivered within seven days, and that first-class mail He said this is several days behind the target of three to five days. He said staffers are taking “extraordinary measures” such as pulling ballots from the mail stream and giving them special treatment to ensure they arrive on time.
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“We are making heroic efforts to be on time,” DeJoy said.
Even though more than a dozen states have regulations that allow ballots to be mailed in by Election Day, election officials, legislators, and postal authorities must ensure that ballots are mailed at least seven days before Election Day and that ballots are not counted. We urge voters to make sure they have enough time to do so. And still valid.
Here’s what we know about concerns about the Postal Service.
‘Vote from your couch’: Voting by mail soars in popularity
Mail-in voting has been in the spotlight as absentee voting for the 2020 election increased significantly during the coronavirus pandemic. The number of mail-in ballots more than doubled from 2016 to 2020, jumping from 28.8 million to 66.4 million, according to a report by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. More than 43% of voters mailed their ballots in 2020, up from 24.5% in 2016, according to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.
“They want to vote from their couches,” said Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, president of the National Association of Secretaries of State. “They want to vote from their kitchen tables. It’s about them and their families and their lives. It’s convenient for me,” he said.
About 60% of Democrats voted by mail in 2020, compared to 32% of Republicans, according to the survey.
Former Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has long criticized mail-in voting but has occasionally encouraged his supporters to use it. In a Sept. 15 post on Truth Social, he called the Postal Service a “poorly run mess” and questioned how the agency can be trusted in this year’s elections.
‘A really big deal’: Election officials say ballot mail is increasingly being returned undeliverable
Most states require mail-in ballots to arrive by Election Day. However, the National Conference of State Legislatures says the 14th and the District of Columbia allow a one- to 14-day grace period as long as the ballot is postmarked by Election Day.
The National Association of Secretaries of State and the National Association of State Election Officials sent a letter to Postmaster General DeJoy on Sept. 11 outlining concerns about mail delivery delays. Members of the group met with Mr. DeJoy twice.
“I would say there are some unresolved concerns. All we need is continued assurance that the Postal Service is going to do well,” Simon said after his Oct. 1 meeting with DeJoy. ” he said.
Election officials report that mail sent to voters (information mailers, voter identification cards, ballots) is being sent to voters at a higher rate than usual, even when it is anecdotally known that voters have not moved. The package was reportedly returned as undeliverable.
Sen. Jon Ossoff (D), R-Georgia, announced 6 days after Fulton County, Georgia, discovered that 1,100 court mail items such as notices, hearings, and court orders did not reach their intended recipients. In March, it requested the Postal Service Inspector General to launch an investigation. The inspector general has not yet announced the results.
Voters may miss their ballots or even be removed from registration rolls because their mail is returned to the sender.
“That particular issue is a really big issue,” Simon said.
‘Sounding the alarm’: Late-arriving ballots may be discarded
Nationally, the Postal Service delivered 85.6% of first-class mail within two days in the last three months, with the goal of reaching 93%, according to the agency’s inspector general. If voters depend on their ballots arriving at election offices that quickly, millions of ballots could arrive too late to be counted.
“This is a huge number of voters,” said Hans von Spakovsky, an election law expert at the conservative Heritage Foundation.
After multiple states reported receiving dozens to hundreds of ballots during the primary election that were postmarked more than 10 days later, election officials in each state called the delivery times “unusually long.” he complained.
Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab said nearly 1,000 mail-in ballots, 2% of the total votes cast in the state in the Aug. 6 primary, either arrived or were postmarked after the state’s three-day grace period. It was said that the data could not be counted because there was no such information. More ballots continue to trickle in. The lack of a postmark contradicts the agency’s website, which says the agency’s policy is to “postmark all ballots.”
“That’s why we’re sounding the alarm right now,” Schwab said.
The on-time delivery rate for first-class mail in the Atlanta area was just 36% in March, but reached 83% by June, according to Postal Service statistics.
DeJoy said the delay was caused by consolidating postal facilities to improve efficiency and moving thousands of employees from multiple locations to a single new building in Palmetto, Georgia.
“Georgia’s ballots will be delivered just fine,” he said.
Lawmakers complained that on-time delivery in Green Bay and Richmond plummeted 20 percentage points this year under the experimental program, making them the second- and fourth-worst areas in the nation for on-time delivery.
DeJoy compared the experimental program to transport mail more efficiently to NASA’s rocket experiments.
“The first rocket that went to the moon exploded,” he said.
“Thank you for blowing up Wisconsin,” said Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis.
Republicans seek Election Day deadline for mail-in voting
The Republican National Committee has filed a lawsuit to ensure that mailed ballots are not counted unless they are properly filled out and arrive by Election Day.
A federal lawsuit filed by the RNC in Mississippi aims to limit the number of mail-in ballots that can be counted if they arrive by Election Day, in contrast to state law that allows mail-in ballots to be postmarked by Election Day. A five-day grace period is allowed for submitted ballots.
State election officials and Democrats are struggling to maintain a grace period for mail-in ballots to arrive after Election Day. Democrats said military personnel and overseas voters are at greater risk of having their votes not counted due to mail delays.
A U.S. district court upheld the state’s July deadline, and Republicans appealed. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments on September 24th. Legal experts say the case could reach the Supreme Court.
Officials say mail out your ballot at least a week before the election.
Despite concerns about the Postal Service, election officials and lawmakers said they have no intention of discouraging people from voting by mail.
“I’m pleased that voting by mail remains a very viable and very safe option for the growing number of Americans who choose to do so,” Simon said in a statement. “We don’t want anyone to get the message that they shouldn’t vote by mail.”
Election and postal officials suggested mailing your ballot at least a week before Election Day and contacting your local office to confirm its arrival.
“As Halloween approaches, call your (local elections) office to make sure you received your ballot,” Schwab said.