Election officials warn mail problems could cause 2024 voting disruptions
A coalition representing state and local election officials across the United States warned that problems with the nation’s mail system could disrupt voting in some areas, with just weeks to go before the 2024 presidential election.
In a Wednesday letter sent to the U.S. Postal Service’s postmaster, Louis Dejoy, the National Association of State Election Directors and the National Association of Secretaries of State said they have “ongoing concerns” about USPS’S ability to perform ahead of the Nov. 5 contest.
Over the past year, they warned, mailed ballots that were postmarked on time were received by local election offices days after the deadline to be counted. They also noted that properly addressed election mail was being returned to them as undeliverable, a problem that could automatically send voters to inactive status through no fault of their own, potentially creating chaos when those voters show up to cast a ballot.
In that time period, “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,” the letter stated.
Further, officials have told the two associations that mail sent to voters is being deemed “undeliverable” at higherthan-normal rates, sometimes in instances where a “voter is known not to have moved.”
“This has affected a range of election mail, including informational mailers about critical election information and voter address confirmation cards, as well as ballots,” the letter said.
Despite the alleged issues, the groups said that repeated attempts to contact the USPS to resolve them did not result in changes, adding that the mail delivery problems result from “a pervasive lack of understanding and enforcement of USPS policies among its employees.”
“We implore you to take immediate and tangible corrective action to address the ongoing performance issues with USPS election mail service,” they said. “Failure to do so will risk limiting voter participation and trust in the election process.”
Responding to their letter, the USPS said that it is equipped to deal with mail-in ballots. But the Postal Service said that voters who wish to submit ballots through the mail should not procrastinate.
“We are ready to deliver. We were successful in 2020 delivering a historic volume of mail-in ballots; also in 2022 and will do so again in November 2024,” Adrienne Marshall, director of Election Mail and Government Services, said in a statement.
In December, the Postal Service said in a news release that it has consistently delivered mail and packages to 98% of the U.S. population in fewer than three days during peak volume periods.
Dejoy responded to previous criticism of his handling of the USPS in a Washington Post opinion article published in July, also noting that 98% of Americans received their mail and packages within three days. However, he noted that the service has suffered in recent times due to what he called “degraded operating conditions.”
“Although we have slipped recently because of difficulties in overcoming our degraded operating conditions while opening new facilities, and remodeling and repositioning existing ones, we will soon be back to a performance level that can make the nation proud,” he said.
During the 2020 election, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, election officials in multiple states expanded voteby-mail efforts. After the conclusion of that election, former President Donald Trump said that mail-in ballots can lead to election fraud. However, in 2024, he has urged GOP voters to vote by mail, early in-person, or on Election Day itself.