New bill for election security funding

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has warned officials in 46 states and the District of Columbia that delivery delays may mean that many ballots cast by mail in the November election won’t arrive in time to be counted.

The warnings were delivered in letters to state election officials by USPS general counsel and executive vice president Thomas Marshall.

In letters to 40 states, the Postal Service warned that state deadlines to request, return and count ballots may clash with the realities of mail delivery at a time when USPS is already facing financial troubles, delivery delays and an expected influx of election-related mail, The Washington Post first reported Friday, after obtaining the documents through a records request.

Among those states were critical electoral battlegrounds such as Florida and Michigan, according to the Post’s reporting.

Six other states and D.C. were reportedly told that the possible delays could impact smaller subsets of voters.

In a statement, Martha Johnson, a spokesperson for USPS, noted that the Postal Service typically conducts outreach with state and local election officials in election years.

“The letters were sent as part of these continuing educational efforts, building on other proactive outreach mailings sent in March and May, in addition to numerous meetings and phone calls made between the Postal Service and elections officials,” she said.