A person drops envelopes into a mailbox as postal workers participate in a national day of action outside a U.S. Post Office building, Tuesday, July 28, 2026, in Fort Worth, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Roughly six weeks before the first midterm ballots are mailed, the U.S. Postal Service is facing questions about delivery delays, processing changes and its potential role in determining who receives a mail ballot, according to reporting by The Associated Press.
What we know:
Democratic officials have raised concerns about Postal Service performance after tens of thousands of ballots in California and hundreds in Wisconsin arrived too late to be counted in elections earlier this year.
Election officials in Kansas and Michigan are urging voters who plan to cast ballots early to deliver them in person rather than relying on the mail.
The Postal Service said it remains “committed to fulfilling our role in the electoral process.”
“We provide a secure, efficient, and effective way for citizens to participate when policymakers decide to use mail as part of their elections,” the agency said.
Postal workers and their supporters rally in front of a post office in New York, Tuesday, July 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Trump’s mail ballot order
Trump issued an executive order in March seeking to create a national list of eligible voters using databases maintained by federal agencies.
Under a proposed Postal Service rule connected to the order, only people included on that list would be eligible to receive mail ballots.
Democratic officials in nearly two dozen states filed a lawsuit challenging the order. A federal judge in Massachusetts blocked it, and an appeals court upheld that decision.
The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to allow the restrictions to take effect.
A separate appeals court in Washington declined Tuesday to block the order, calling that legal challenge premature.
Questions about Postal Service preparations
Postal Service leaders told Democratic senators this month that the agency was following the court orders that halted Trump’s executive action.
Jonathan Smith, president of the American Postal Workers Union, told The Associated Press that union members working in Postal Service information technology were still developing a planned portal for the national voter list “behind the scenes.”
The Postal Service declined to address Smith’s claim, saying it could not comment on work connected to the order because of the ongoing litigation.
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Smith said postal workers should not be responsible for deciding “who can vote and who can’t vote.”
Delivery vans bearing the logo sit during a protest staged as part of a countrywide National Day of Action Tuesday, July 28, 2026, outside the main United States Postal Service headquarters in northeast Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Ballots arriving late
California officials said Postal Service processing changes contributed to more than 148,000 ballots being rejected after the state’s June primary. About 63% of those ballots arrived too late despite a seven-day grace period.
Officials also expressed concern that some ballots may have received postmarks at processing facilities one day after voters dropped them off at post offices.
Hundreds of ballots in Wisconsin also arrived late following an election in April.
The Postal Service said postmarks are generally being applied by automated equipment at processing centers in the same way they were previously. Voters can also ask a postal employee to apply a free postmark.
Changes to mail processing
The Postal Service has been consolidating mail operations into fewer regional processing centers as it faces years of financial pressure.
Mail travels an average of 139 miles to reach a processing center and can travel as far as 500 miles, according to a Brookings report cited by AP.
The agency also ended twice-daily mail dispatches from local post offices in some areas. Mail arriving after the remaining daily dispatch may not leave until the next day.
What election officials are recommending
Michigan election officials are advising voters to return ballots directly to a clerk’s office or an official drop box.
Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab also believes voters should avoid relying on the federal government to return their ballots, according to a spokesperson.
The Postal Service said its guidance has not changed: Voters should mail their ballots at least one week before their state’s deadline.
A report from the Postal Service inspector general found that the agency processed more than 59 million pieces of ballot mail during the 2024 election period and delivered 97.3% on time.
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