As November's election draws near, numerous election officials in states across the country have raised concerns about the ability of the U.S. Postal Service to deliver all election-related mail, including ballots, in sufficient time for all votes to be counted.

On Wednesday, those concerns were laid out in a letter to U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy along with a warning that some voters would be disenfranchised if the USPS didn't take swift action to address certain recurring issues with election-related mail, Just the News reported.

Those recurring issues included inconsistent election mail-related training for postal workers, ballots arriving too late to be counted despite being postmarked on time, and election-related mail, including ballots, being returned to election officials as "undeliverable" to voters' addresses.

Election officials have "ongoing concerns" that have not been allayed

On Wednesday, a joint letter was sent to Postmaster DeJoy by the National Association of Secretaries of State along with the National Association of State Election Directors that was intended to "express our ongoing concerns" ahead of the impending 2024 election.

"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 stated.

"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 coalition of state officials added.

The three main problems and potential consequences

Concerning the allegations of inconsistent training, the letter said, "The frequency and widespread distribution of training-related issues, however, make it clear these are not one-off mistakes or a problem with specific facilities. Instead, it demonstrates a pervasive lack of understanding and enforcement of USPS policies among its employees."

The letter also complained of "exceptionally long delivery times" despite USPS vows for speedy delivery, and noted, "For example, election officials in multiple states report receiving anywhere from dozens to hundreds of ballots 10 or more days after postmark. There is no amount of proactive communication election officials can do to account for USPS’s inability to meet their own service delivery timelines."

As for the reported increase in election-related mail returned as "undeliverable," the letter warned that the development "raises two significant issues: (1) the potential disenfranchisement of voters whose ballots are not delivered to them or to their election office, and (2) putting eligible voters on the path to having their voter registration record canceled."

"State and local election officials need a committed partner in USPS," the letter concluded. "We implore you to take immediate and tangible corrective action to address the ongoing performance issues with USPS election mail service. Failure to do so will risk limiting voter participation and trust in the election process."

USPS responds

Forbes reported that, prior to the joint letter, the USPS issued a press release to outline the "extraordinary measures" implemented to ensure all election-related mail is delivered on time, and Postmaster DeJoy insisted in a recent interview that the "American people should be confident" that the USPS would be able to handle all election-related mail.

In response to the letter, USPS Director of Election Mail and Government Services Adrienne Marshall said, "We are ready to deliver," and pointed out, "We were successful in 2020 delivering a historic volume of mail-in ballots; also in 2022 and will do so again in November 2024."

NBC News reported that an unnamed USPS spokesperson also insisted that "we are currently delivering mail in 2.7 days, although we continue to recommend as a common-sense measure that voters should mail their completed ballot before Election Day, and at least one week prior to their state’s deadline."

"As we have discussed widely with election officials, the Postal Service is in the midst of network modernization," the spokesperson added. "Election Mail routinely outperforms our regular service performance due to our long-standing processes and procedures."