Overview
- State reports show thousands more ballots were rejected for postmarks after recent primaries in Washington, Oregon and California, with rural counties in Washington seeing some local rejection rates as high as about 4.4 percent.
- The Postal Service has shifted to regional hub processing and once‑daily long‑distance transport from offices far from sorting centers and finalized a rule that ties a postmark to when mail is handled at processing centers rather than when it is first dropped off.
- A USPS Office of Inspector General audit documented training gaps, tracking failures and concrete errors that risked wrong or late postmarks, including 56 ballots stamped with incorrect dates and a 108‑ballot misgrouping in Harrisburg.
- Independent analysis from the Public Policy Institute of California found USPS processing changes explain a measurable share of California’s rise in late rejections but account for about 19 percent of the increase, with younger voters and areas losing evening pickup hit hardest.
- Election officials are urging voters to mail ballots earlier or obtain manual postmarks, adding drop boxes, seeking emergency funding, and pursuing court and regulatory action as the November midterms approach.