Overview
- ProPublica’s analysis published Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026, found a national pattern tying post-2024 USPS operational shifts to a rise in late-arriving, potentially rejected mail ballots in five states with postmark grace periods.
- The Postal Service moved first-class mail processing to larger regional plants and cut many local post office pickups from twice daily to once, which often adds a day to delivery and delays the official postmark that some states use to validate late ballots.
- Local returns show sharp jumps in late ballots where service changed, including nearly 2,000 late ballots across 11 rural counties in eastern Washington compared with about 600 in the 2022 primary, and similar spikes reported in California, Ohio, North Carolina and Oregon.
- USPS officials say they issued new guidance to separate ballots for the 10 days before the November general election and have used what they call extraordinary measures to speed ballots, but election officials and analysts say the recent primary data show continuing risks for voters in remote areas.
- Election experts warn that a few hundred to a few thousand late rejections could decide close rural races and recommend practical steps such as mailing ballots at least a week early, using drop boxes or staffed sites, pressing USPS for evening pick-ups on Election Day, and publishing more detailed ballot-timing data.