Op-Ed: US Postal Service ready to deliver nation's election mail

USPS expects election mail service performance in 2024 to be equal to or better than 2020

√ Our recommendation remains for voters who choose to mail in their ballots to do so before Election Day, and at least a week before their election office needs to receive them

Guest Editorial by the United States Postal Service

With eight days remaining until Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, the United States Postal Service recommends that voters who choose to vote by mail do so soon.

As we anticipate an uptick of ballots in the mail over the coming days, postal service employees are working to ensure the ballots of every individual who chooses to vote by mail are delivered quickly and securely. As in past elections, the postal service is ready to deliver your ballot on time. But don’t delay. If you choose to vote by mail, please mail early as every day counts.

We continue to recommend that it is a good common-sense measure for voters who choose to mail in their ballots to do so before Election Day and at least a week before their election office needs to receive them. If a ballot is due on Election Day, the postal service recommends mailing the ballot by today

The postal service remains fully ready to successfully deliver the nation's mail-in ballots for voters who choose to use us to vote. And to be clear, even for return ballots that are entered in our system after Tuesday, we will continue to deploy our “extraordinary measures,” which are designed to accelerate the delivery of ballot mail in the final weeks of the election season.

For the upcoming 2024 general election, the postal service anticipates similar service performance as demonstrated in the 2020 general election*:

√ 99.89% of ballots mailed from voters to election officials were delivered within a week.

√ 97.9% of ballots mailed from voters to election officials were delivered within three days, and 99.7% were delivered within five days.

√ On average, the postal service delivered ballots from election officials to voters in 2.1 days, and ballots from voters to election officials in 1.6 days.

*2020 general election statistics

For the 2024 general election, the nation’s postal network is operating effectively without any major reported disruptions. Service performance across the nation is strong. In the first three weeks of October, ballot mail performance scores were high:

√ 99.9% of ballots (combined: outbound from election officials to voters and inbound from voters to election officials) were delivered within a week.

√ On average, the postal service delivered outbound ballots (to voters) in 2.0 days.

√ 98.3% of inbound ballots (from voters to election officials) were delivered within three days.

√ On average, the postal service delivered inbound ballots (from voters to election officials) in one day.

‘Extraordinary Measures’ underway

In addition to the processes and procedures specific to election mail that the postal service deploys all year long, as in previous general elections, the postal service is deploying extraordinary measures in the final weeks of the election season to swiftly move ballot mail entered close to or on Election Day and/or the state’s return deadline.

Extraordinary measures began Monday, Oct. 21, and will continue nationwide through Election Day (Tuesday, Nov. 5), and extend through the last day in each state that boards of elections will accept completed mail-in ballots as timely.

The extraordinary measures are designed to accelerate and enhance the delivery of ballot mail, when the postal service is able to identify the mail piece as a ballot.

The postal service’s extraordinary measures include, but are not limited to:

√ Extra deliveries and collections;

√ Special pick-ups;

√ Specialized sort plans at processing facilities to expedite delivery to boards of elections; and

√ Local handling and transportation of ballots.

These measures are consistent with the postal service’s efforts in past elections.

Ready to deliver your ballots

The postal service has the operational capacity to deliver the nation’s ballots in the final week of the election. In 2020, ballot mail accounted for just 0.11% of the postal service’s total mail volume.