Election officials warn that problems with USPS could cause problems in November election

The U.S. Postal Service will play a large role in this upcoming election, but potentially not a good one, state and local election officials suggested in a letter on Wednesday.

The letter from the National Association of Secretaries of State and the National Association of State Election Directors warned that problems with the postal service might disenfranchise voters in the upcoming election.

Addressed to the head of the United States Postal Service Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, the letter warns that he has not fixed the persistent deficiencies seen in the system. As recent as the primary season that played out this summer, the letter says that local election officials across the U.S. have seen a worrying trend in postal operations' ability to deliver mail on time.

With less than two months until election day, the postal service does not have a lot of time to fix the issues they are facing delivering ballots. The letter from the state officials implored the service to fix its inefficiencies to help have a smooth election process.

“State and local election officials need a committed partner in USPS. We implore you to take immediate and tangible corrective action to address the ongoing performance issues with USPS election mail service,” the letter reads.

What were their problems with USPS?

“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 said.

They noted recent cases where ballots postmarked ballots sent in a timely manner to election officials arriving well after Election Day. Officials also note that in some cases properly addressed election mail ends up being returned to election officials and potentially sending voters to inactive status causing them to become disenfranchised.

This lack of speed in delivering the first-class mail ballots is marked as does not meet the postal service’s own standard, which should be between three and five business days.

What does USPS say about the election?

The USPS released a statement in response to the letter: “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 to USA TODAY.

DeJoy said in a recent interview with the Associated Press that the postal service is ready to handle the large amount of mail-in ballots sent in for this year's election.

Other officials express concern over USPS ballot efficiency

Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab had already sent his own letter to DeJoy in recent days. According to the letter, almost 1,000 ballots from last month's primary election could not be counted by officials as they arrived too late or without postmarks.

“The Pony Express is more efficient at this point,” Schwab said on X, formerly Twitter, last month.

According to Schwab, some ballots do arrive on time to elections officials, but they come without postmarks which makes them ineligible to be counted under Kansas law. Schwab has told Kansas residents to use local drop boxes instead of entrusting them with the postal service.

When does absentee voting start?

The letter comes as the first mailed ballots have already been sent out today to absentee voters in Alabama.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, voters in other states have received or will receive ballots in the upcoming days, with the following states mailing out their ballots more than 45 days before Election Day: Arkansas, Delaware, Kentucky, Minnesota, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

All of these states have started mailing ballots before Alabama, with the following sending them out in the next days: Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia and Wyoming.

Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at [email protected] and follow him on X @fern_cerv_.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Issues within USPS could cause problems in November election