USPS Audit Finds Ballot Handling Failures in Primaries

A new USPS inspector general audit found training, postmarking and tracking failures in primary ballot handling weeks before the November midterms.

A Postal Service Office of Inspector General audit, dated Sept. 4 and first reported by ProPublica, found that some USPS facilities failed to properly handle ballots during this year's primary elections. ProPublica reports the audit cited a lack of staff training on expeditious ballot handling, deficiencies in how ballots were tracked, and errors causing delays — all risking incorrect postmarks or late arrivals that could lead ballots to be rejected. The audit said the failures increase the risk that election mail is 'not handled, documented, monitored, and reported in accordance with Postal Service policy.'

The audit noted that most facilities generally adhered to election policies, and nearly 99% of the 6.3 million trackable ballots reached election officials on time — up from about 98% in 2024. But ProPublica reports the observed gaps were striking: at 22 of 73 delivery units, no election-related training materials were posted; 10 of 82 facilities had management unaware of proper postmarking procedure; and at five of nine processing facilities, clerks hand-postmarking ballots sometimes used inaccurate dates, including a Pennsylvania facility that wrong-dated 56 ballots on primary day. In Harrisburg, 108 ballots had to be expedited to Pittsburgh on election morning to count.

The findings land as the Supreme Court weighs whether to allow new USPS mail-voting rules under a March executive order requiring states to give USPS voter eligibility lists. ProPublica reports election experts and the American Postal Workers Union argue the audit undermines the case that USPS can handle expanded responsibilities, with the union warning of a 'significant risk of wide swaths of Americans not being able to vote by mail.' Separately, the AP via PBS reports ballot rejections for late postmarks surged in Washington and Oregon after USPS consolidation changes, with 20,267 late-postmarked ballots in Washington's primary and Oregon's rejection rate rising to 13%.

In a response included with the audit, the Postal Service wrote that 'overall ballot mail performance is strong,' acknowledging some employees didn't follow procedures while calling other errors 'isolated incidents' — such as New Jersey ballots briefly delivered to Tennessee. ProPublica reports USPS agreed with all recommendations except one on promptly notifying customers affected by regional transportation changes. States are moving to blunt rejection risks: the AP via PBS reports Oregon's secretary of state is seeking emergency funding for 20 new drop boxes, Washington has spent about $300,000 adding 21, and Stevens County is doubling its drop boxes from five to ten. USPS says voters should mail ballots at least a week early.