Election officials urge Postal Service to fix delivery problems with mail-in ballots

State and local election officials from around the U.S. issued a warning Wednesday about the Postal Service’s ability to distribute and collect mail-in ballots as early voting for the presidential election has already started.

The two main professional organizations of election officials said in a joint letter to U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy that he should immediately take measures to address widespread problems that have already disrupted voting during this year’s primaries.

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

The warning from the National Association of State Election Directors and the National Association of Secretaries of State, which repeats previous criticism of the Postal Service, comes as voting by mail has become more widespread since the pandemic.

In their letter, the organizations said that mail-in ballots are being deliberately held or significantly delayed, with some being received beyond the three to five days claimed as the First Class delivery standard and, in many cases, well after Election Day. They also report cases in which mail is being marked as undeliverable despite some residents who have not moved.

Despite their previous complaints, the groups wrote that they “have not seen improvement or concerted efforts to remediate our concerns.”The postal service dismissed the criticism, insisting its carriers are “ready to deliver” in a statement from Adrienne Marshall, director of election and government mail services.

“We were successful in 2020 delivering a historic volume of mail in ballots; also in 2022 and will do so again in November 2024,” Marshall said.

The letter comes as mail-in voting has already started in Alabama. North Carolina was supposed to be the first state to begin mail-in voting but it was delayed after the state’s Supreme Court sided with former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that his name must be removed from the ballot.

Mail-in voting is expected to be down from 2020, when the pandemic led an unprecedented number of voters to avoid in-person polling places.

Former President Donald Trump has expressed mixed views on the practice. He discouraged the practice in 2020 and falsely claimed that fraudulent mail ballots cost him the election. But in this election cycle, the former president has encouraged voters to use mail ballots to drive turnout. He also told supporters at a rally in August that “we want to get rid of mail-in voting.”