Election officials from across the countrywarned millions of voters could see their ballots not counted in November’s election because of problems with the mail delivery system.
The two main professional organizations of election officials said in a joint letter to U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy that he should immediately move to solve problems with the mail system that caused issues with ballots in primary elections earlier this year.
In an alarming letter, the officials said that over the past year they had seen several problems during various primary elections, including receiving mailed ballots that had been postmarked on time but arriving. after the deadline to be counted.
And some ballots that were correctly addressed were returned to voters as undeliverable.
cElection officials warned of mailed-in ballots not being properly counted due to issues with the Post Office and the mail delivery system
‘We implore you to take immediate and tangible corrective action to address the ongoing performance issues with USPS election mail service,’ the National Association of State Election Directors and the National Association of Secretaries of State said in their letter.
‘Failure to do so will risk limiting voter participation and trust in the election process.’
Mail-in voting has become more widespread and popular since the COVID pandemic.
Their letter came as several states are preparing to open early voting for the general election in November.
‘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,’ the letter says.
‘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,’ the officials note.
The Post Office did not comment on the letter.
But two weeks ago DeJoy told the Associated Press in an interview the Postal Service was ready to handle a flood of mail ballots expected as part of this November’s presidential election
Nearly 70 million people voted by mail in 2020 and more than 35 million did so in 2022.
Numbers are expected to be lower this year but the practice is expected to be widely used.
Officials expressed worries with the U.S. Post Office mail delivery system
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Mail-in voting has begun 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.
Donald Trump has expressed concerns about mail-in voting in the past but this year he is embracing the practice, urging his supporters to use the system.
Democrats have long embraced mail-in voting.