Washington — State and native elections officers from practically half of the states warned the U.S. Postal Service on Wednesday that ongoing points with election mail supply may danger disenfranchising voters and urged the service to behave rapidly to deal with deficiencies forward of the presidential election.
Within the letter to Postmaster Normal Louis DeJoy, the leaders of assorted teams representing election directors raised considerations with the Postal Service’s efficiency within the run-up to Election Day on Nov. 5. The letter stated elections officers have raised questions over the previous yr in regards to the service’s skill to ship election mail on time and precisely.
The officers stated whereas there was “repeated engagement” with the Postal Service, they haven’t seen “enchancment or concerted efforts” to treatment their considerations. Thousands and thousands of voters are anticipated to solid their ballots by mail within the weeks earlier than Election Day.
“State and native election officers want a dedicated companion in USPS,” the officers wrote. “We implore you to take rapid and tangible corrective motion to deal with the continuing efficiency points with USPS election mail service. Failure to take action will danger limiting voter participation and belief within the election course of.”
JASON REDMOND/AFP by way of Getty Pictures
They stated that regardless of efforts over the previous few years to emphasise the significance of voters requesting and returning mail-in ballots early, native officers in practically each state are receiving ballots postmarked on time after Election Day, the deadline in lots of states for them to be acquired. The election officers stated in a number of states, “dozens to tons of of ballots” have been acquired a minimum of 10 days after they have been postmarked.
“There isn’t any quantity of proactive communication election officers can do to account for USPS’s incapability to satisfy their very own service supply timelines,” they wrote.
The election officers additionally informed DeJoy that mail despatched to voters is being marked as undeliverable at above-normal charges, even when a voter has not moved. The problem has impacted a spread of election mail, they stated, together with mailers with election info, voter handle affirmation playing cards and ballots. The officers stated in different cases, ballots despatched to election workplaces are returned to the voter as undeliverable.
Election mail despatched again to an election workplace may set off a course of below federal regulation that will result in a voter being deemed inactive and require them to take extra steps to confirm their handle to vote within the upcoming election, the state and native officers stated. The rise in undeliverable mail may result in the potential disenfranchisement of voters who fail to obtain ballots or result in their voter registration information being canceled, they stated.
Along with considerations in regards to the supply of election mail, the officers stated USPS employees just isn’t knowledgeable in regards to the service’s insurance policies, resulting in “inconsistent steerage” being given to election officers or ballots being intentionally held, delayed or improperly processed.
The frequency of the coaching points, they stated, “make it clear these should not one-off errors or an issue with particular amenities. As an alternative, it demonstrates a pervasive lack of awareness and enforcement of USPS insurance policies amongst its staff.”
The letter was despatched by the Nationwide Affiliation of State Election Administrators, the Nationwide Affiliation of Secretaries of State and presidents of native election associations on behalf of directors nationwide.
Appointed through the Trump administration, DeJoy got here below scrutiny forward of the 2020 election over mail-delivery delays. The Census Bureau reported in April 2021 that 69% of voters solid their ballots both by mail or earlier than Election Day, the best charge of nontraditional voting since 1996.
Whereas voting in 2020 befell amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Republicans and Democrats have continued to induce supporters to solid their ballots early.
Even former President Donald Trump, who has claimed mail-in ballots result in election fraud, stated final month that absentee and early voting are “good choices.”
