The Postal Service is slowing delivery. Will your mail ballot be affected?

Key Points:

• The U.S. Postal Service's new Regional Transportation Optimization (RTO) policy eliminates evening mail pickups from post offices over 50 miles from regional processing centers, delaying mail postmarks and deliveries by at least one day across more than 42% of the continental U.S., disproportionately affecting rural voters.
• Delays in mail delivery and postmarking risk disenfranchising mail-in voters, especially in states with strict deadlines or limited grace periods for late-arriving ballots, as election officials rely on postmark dates to validate timely voting.
• The RTO is currently active in 61% of planned zip codes and will eventually cover about 70% of continental U.S. zip codes; coupled with new USPS service standards adding delivery days for weekend and holiday mail, these changes have contributed to a significant increase in late ballot rejections in recent elections.
• Election authorities and USPS are responding by advising voters to mail ballots early, deliver them in person for postmarking, and by extending postal hours and creating dedicated ballot postmark lines to mitigate delays and reduce rejected mail ballots.
• Postal service advocates acknowledge USPS's efforts to address postmark issues, emphasizing that proactive steps beyond voter responsibility are necessary to prevent disenfranchisement due to late or missing postmarks.