This article was originally published By Votea nonprofit news organization focused on local election administration and voting access.
by Alexander Shur, Votebeat
Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization dedicated to reporting on voting access and election management across the United States.
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After weeks of presidential election drama, from the withdrawal of a candidate to an attempted assassination, real fireworks have appeared on the scene. National Association of State Election Directors This week’s conference in Minneapolis ended with… snail mail.
Disappointed election officials on Tuesday slammed a U.S. Postal Service official, saying his agency is not delivering ballots on time and the situation is not improving enough despite repeated requests.
“You have to be better. The actual choices are determined by these delays” Bryan CaskeyKansas elections director said Steve CarterUSPS official responsible for election and government-related mail programs.
NASED members gather like this twice a year, and this time, with the presidential election approaching, operational issues surrounding mail-in voting were a priority for almost all participants. These are the people who know the election administration best, and if it worries them, everyone should start paying attention.
Carter did not have specific answers to many questions asked by election directors — or at least he did not provide the answers they wanted.
For example, he said he didn’t know exactly when the Postal Service would begin expanded service to bolster delivery of election-related mail. He also repeatedly told election directors to contact their local USPS customer relations staff, even though election officials said those staffers’ responses were often inadequate.
Carter said the USPS has improved in some areas and cited the numbers to back that up. In the 2022 midterm elections, the Postal Service delivered 97.3% of “traceable and measurable ballots” to voters on time, the report found. USPS Office of Inspector General found. That’s better than in 2018 or 2020 and 6 points above the target rate, the report said.
Caskey said that while that escalate is “tremendous,” there still remains a significant portion of misdelivered or undeliverable ballots, which risks disenfranchising voters.
Hypothetically, Caskey said, a jurisdiction that sends out 100,000 ballots and has a 95% on-time result rate still has “5,000 pissed off, angry voters who are mad at the postal service.”
Election officials also criticized the Postal Service’s plan to wait until the end of October — a week or two before Election Day — before beginning a series of election-related activities, including additional deliveries, Sunday ballot pickups, early ballot pickups and setting up special postal hotlines for postmarking ballots.
“Why Are We Waiting Until the End of October?” – New Hampshire Elections Director Patricia Piecuchhe asked, noting that ballots reach voters many weeks in advance.
Carter said the organization is trying to maintain normal processes as much as possible.
“Emergency measures will be introduced when there is a peak in the flow of ballots through the system,” he said.
Sensing Piecuch’s doubts, Carter offered to talk to her separately about what she was experiencing in New Hampshire.
Election officials have repeatedly raised concerns about mail delivery during the 2020 election period, and a federal judge later found that some of the changes introduced by United States Postal Service Director General Louis DeJoy contributed to the slowdown in mail deliveries in the run-up to the 2020 election. DeJoy, a former logistics executive and major Republican donor, was appointed by the former president Donald Trumpwho was a staunch critic of postal voting.
But those concerns are now coming from jurisdictions across the country. A group of 18 senators, all Democrats, this month I sent DeJoy a letter requesting more information on plans to ensure on-time mail delivery.
Washington, DC, Election Board Director Monica Evans said that during one recent election, she never received her ballot in the mail. She contacted USPS personnel and “they just kept looking. And there was never any response,” she said. “They just said, ‘Well, you have to request a new ballot or vote in person.’”
It was straightforward enough for Evans, she said, because she works in elections. But for other voters, it could be the difference between being able to vote or not.
Election board directors told us they will continue to press the Postal Service for answers, but they understand that such a gigantic and underfunded organization may not be able to turn its situation around in the compact term.
Votebeat Editorial Director Jessica Huseman contributed. If you work in elections and have similar concerns about USPS delivery times during the election season, we want to hear from you. To achieve and let us know.
Alexander Shur is a reporter for Votebeat based in Wisconsin. Contact Alexander at ashur@votebeat.org.
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