US Postal Service in sprint to deliver millions of ballots by Tuesday

From longer hours and extra staffing to special lines in its branches, the US Postal Service (USPS) ⁠is taking an array of special actions ⁠to make sure mail-in ballots for the midterm elections are ⁠counted on Tuesday.

This year more than ever, the pressure is on the USPS to deliver. President Donald Trump ordered the agency to write rules that would bar it from delivering ballots if the states did not agree to turn over lists of eligible voters and some voters have expressed concern about voting by mail. The Supreme Court blocked Trump and USPS from enforcing those rules in September.

Trump’s fellow Republicans ‌are locked in a tight battle to retain control of Congress in the midterms. Restricting mail-in ballots would stand to benefit Republicans given that Democratic voters disproportionately use mail-in ballots, according to various surveys.

In the last two months, USPS has delivered tens of millions of ballots and a record 4.2 billion pieces of political marketing mail – the flyers that prod voters to support or oppose a candidate or ballot resolution – up more than 300 million pieces over the 2024 election cycle.

Thousands of USPS workers are handling the final ballots before Tuesday’s election. Some branches may extend hours to handle ballots and establish a “Ballot Postmark ⁠Only” line at retail counters or a drive-through Ballot Mail option. USPS, an independent executive branch agency, is also conducting expedited handling, extra deliveries and special pickups of ballots.

There ‌are daily and sometimes multiple sweeps of all postal facilities in the final days to search for any remaining ballots that need to be delivered. USPS on Sunday brought on extra staff to collect, postmark and process mail to expedite ballot deliveries.

Amber McReynolds, chair ‌of the US Postal Service Board of Governors, said voting by mail seemed to be a little higher than previous midterm elections in ⁠part because ballots went out earlier in ⁠some states. USPS has been delivering ballots since the Civil War at the direction of president Abraham Lincoln.

“We’ve done it in a cross-partisan, non-partisan, apolitical way. We’ll continue to operate that way,” McReynolds ‌said, saying workers were “delivering democracy”.

In 2024, USPS delivered 99.2 million ballots to and from voters in the presidential election. About 30 per cent of votes were cast by mail in the November 2024 presidential election, down from 46 per cent in ‌2020.

In Golden, Colorado, acting postmaster John Douglas has been getting to work at 4am, far earlier than normal, to make sure ballots are getting delivered.

“We ‌want to get everything home. We want to get everything delivered into the right hands,” said Douglas, who notes in the final days carriers check every box ⁠and every house – even if there is no mail to be delivered that day.

About 20 miles away, the 1 million sq ft Denver Processing and Distribution Centre is ⁠handling tens of millions of pieces of political and election mail. On a single day last week, it processed 3.5 million pieces of political marketing mail.

On Election Day, workers will make extra trips to postal facilities to get those last ballots or USPS may drive directly to get ballots in ‌hand. Some states allow ballots as long ‌as they are postmarked by November 3, but others like Colorado must have them in the possession of an election official by 7pm local time on Tuesday – except for military or overseas ballots.

USPS faces a blizzard of varying state rules, ballot designs, delivery deadlines and other state-specific requirements. It also launched a special portal – electionmail.org – so local officials can get real-time help with mail-related ballot issues.

USPS said it did not take for granted public confidence in voting by mail.

“We take the trust we’ve earned with them very seriously,” McReynolds said.