HOUSTON — With the general election quickly approaching, the U.S. Postal Service has pledged to “work around the clock” amid growing concerns about the vote-by-mail process.
In a news conference Wednesday, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said USPS would take “extraordinary measures” to deliver mail on time.
“Let me be clear, the postal service is ready to deliver the nation's mail-in ballots, he said. "In retail operations, post offices may establish dedicated lines for ballot postmarks and drive through ballot drop operations.”
DeJoy said other efforts may include additional pickups, extra deliveries, and special sort plans on processing equipment to expedite and enhance ballot delivery.
Despite those assurances, there is unease about the vote-by-mail process among local and state election officials. In early September, the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) sent a letter to Dejoy questioning USPS election preparedness.
“When it comes to voting the stakes are pretty high,” said Steve Simon, NASS president and Minnesota Sec. of State. “In many states, a day can be the critical difference of a ballot counting or not counting."
Simon told KHOU 11 that election officials were especially concerned about potential mail delays and increasing reports of undelivered election mail.
“Our plea to the U.S. Postal Service is we need them to be on top of their game, when it comes to staffing, training other policies that will make sure we can maximize speed for election-related mail,” he said.
On Thursday, DeJoy touted the Postal Service’s prior success with delivering mail ballots. According to internal reviews, USPS delivered 99.89 percent of ballots from voters to election officials within seven days in the 2020 general election.
In July, the Postal Service Office of Inspector General (OIG) also released an audit report on election mail readiness that found USPS processed mail ballots on time about 97% of the time in the recent spring election.
However, that audit found issues with election mail procedures that could pose a risk of “individual ballots not being counted.”
The OIG included 10 recommendations in their report, including a recommendation to put a pause on DeJoy’s USPS network modernization plan, Delivering for America. KHOU 11 has reported extensively on the postal problems caused by the implementation of modernization efforts in Houston.
When asked about the recommendation, Dejoy claimed some of the USPS modernization efforts would be “halted,” but other ongoing efforts would not impact the November elections.