Postal Service Audit Report Warns of Potential ‘Delays’ of Election Mail and Some ‘Risk of Individual Ballots Not Being Counted’

A U.S. Postal Service (USPS) audit report on the “readiness” of election mail for the 2024 general election found that, for the recent primary elections, the USPS failed to deliver political and election mail on time between 2-3% of the time.

The report, published July 30 by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), states that while the USPS “has teams dedicated to its success during election season and has informed us that it will employ extraordinary measures during the 2024 general election to process, transport, and deliver all Election and Political Mail timely,” ballots sent to voters during the primary elections were processed on time about 97.01% of the time, and completed voter ballots returned to be counted were processed about 98.17% of the time.

The OIG’s office warns of risk for the general election mail based on its audit of the primary elections:

[A]s a result of our observations and inquiries, we found that Postal Service personnel did not always comply with policy and procedures regarding all clear certifications, Election and Political Mail logs, and audit checklists. In addition, we identified processes and policies that could pose a risk of delays in the processing and delivery of Election and Political Mail. Further, we identified issues related to some Delivering for America operational changes that pose a risk of individual ballots not being counted.

The internal watchdog notes it made 10 recommendations to USPS management to address the problem areas identified during the audit.

“Postal Service management agreed with eight recommendations and disagreed with two,” the OIG states, adding that the two issues that drew disagreement remain “unresolved” as OIG works with management “through the formal audit resolution process.”

In the area of “non-compliance with election mail policy and procedures,” the OIG reports:

We found 12 of 15 (80 percent) mail processing facilities did not complete all clear certifications according to policy. Management at eight of these facilities had not properly documented their use of the Operational Clean Sweep Search Checklist to verify an accurate certification. Three mail processing facilities … did not consistently complete the all clear certification or indicated the facility was non-compliant – meaning they had not cleared all Election Mail from the facility by the cut off. Management at a final facility was not on site when they completed the certification, and it was done after the designated cut-off time.

“In addition, we found Election Mail in seven facilities after the certification,” the OIG observes. “Specifically, we found between two and 220 ballots at the seven facilities after completion of the all clear process.”

Another area of concern was an OIG recommendation to “evaluate postmarking policy and adjust as necessary to ensure that all mail-in ballots receive a postmark.”

The OIG explains in its report:

While we were at each site, we asked personnel about how they handle postmarking ballots. We identified two issues – first, personnel did not know postmarking policy, and, second, policy compliance could lead to ineligible ballots. Regarding the first issue, personnel at seven of 15 (47 percent) mail processing facilities did not know postmarking policy, and personnel at eight of 35 (23 percent) delivery units did not know postmarking policy. In addition, some of these offices reported that they would execute postmarking in ways that were outside of policy.

Yet another worrisome item mentioned in the audit report related to “Election Day Operations”:

On the primary election day, we found between one and 82 ballots at eight of 14 (57 percent) mail processing facilities that would not make it to the board of election offices on time to be counted.

Among the problematic issues associated with this finding were a lack of “processes to separate out ballots … for expedited processing” in four mail processing facilities, and USPS personnel in two facilities “stopped segregating the ballots about four hours prior to when ballots needed to be received at the board of election offices.”

Additionally, OIG found that, at one facility, “local management at one facility stated they were not aware primary election day was that week.”

CEO and Editor-in-Chief of Just the News John Solomon alerted his readers to the report on Friday.

Solomon noted data from the National Conference of State Legislatures that provide the number of states that allow full or partial elections by mail, and concluded:

That means the two to three percent of ballots gone missing in the mail could add up to tens of thousands or more votes uncounted nationwide in the November election. Other election and political mailings weren’t processed on time about 2.5% of the time, according to a chart inside the report.

Read the full report at uspsoig.gov/sites/default/files/reports/2024-08/24-016-r24.pdf