12/3/2020 US Postal Service workers likely delivered more than 99.9% of the nation’s mail ballots in-time to be counted this year, despite record participation and unprecedented pandemic-related challenges. However, it also appears the USPS disenfranchised tens of thousands of voters – who mailed legally-cast ballots the week before the election – through substandard performance.
Mail-in ballots for the US presidential election are sorted at the Los Angeles County Registrar Recorders’ mail-in ballot processing center at the Pomona Fairplex in Pomona, California, October 28, 2020. – Officials relocated mail-in ballot processing to the expansive location due to the need for COVID-19 social distancing for the ballot workers and the large number of mail-in ballots. While the tabulation of votes cast for Donald Trump and Joe Biden will begin when polls close on November 3 at 8pm, envelopes are now being sorted and signatures and ballots verified to expedite the tabulation process on November 3. (Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP) (Photo by ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images)
New postmaster general Louis DeJoy faced months of accusations from critics who claimed dozens of cost-cutting moves he instituted at the USPS this summer were designed to slow down the mail ahead of the election and help the man who appointed him, President Trump. There was a precipitous drop in first-class letter performance following DeJoy’s takeover, and despite a series of lawsuits that forced the USPS to rollback the reforms ahead of the election, the agency’s performance never fully recovered by Election Day. That meant millions of mail ballots took longer than normal to get to elections offices.
NBCLX analyzed election records – as well as postal records obtained through federal court filings – to find out how many ballots, cast the week before the election, were ultimately rejected.
Source: Postal Service Delays Disenfranchised Thousands of Legally-Cast Ballots This Fall – NBC Boston