Postal Service Failed to Properly Handle Some Primary Election Ballots, Audit Finds — ProPublica
ProPublica — 2026-09-09 19:35:00 — www.propublica.org
President Donald Trump’s Executive Order on Mail Voting Faces Scrutiny Amid Postal Service Failures
A new audit from the U.S. Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General has raised significant concerns about the agency’s ability to handle mail ballots, just as the Supreme Court considers whether to allow the Postal Service to implement sweeping new rules under a March executive order signed by President Donald Trump. The order would require states to provide USPS with a list of all voters eligible to receive a mail ballot and instructs the agency to use those lists to determine ballot distribution.
Audit Reveals Procedural Gaps
The audit, dated September 4, found that some Postal Service facilities failed to properly handle ballots during this year’s primary elections. Key issues included a lack of training for staff, deficiencies in ballot tracking, and errors that led to delays and incorrect postmarks. These problems risked ballots arriving late or being rejected by election officials. While nearly 99% of ballots tracked were delivered “on time,” the report highlighted that procedural gaps were present in multiple facilities, indicating a need for better enforcement of policies.
Concerns Over Trump’s New Rules
The findings come as the Supreme Court weighs whether to allow the Postal Service to move forward with Trump’s new rules. Top Postal Service employees and a whistleblower have warned that the system could disenfranchise large numbers of eligible voters due to its design and lack of testing. Election experts say the audit’s findings underscore the risks of implementing such major changes so close to a national election.
David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, stated that the audit confirms USPS is not prepared to meet the new responsibilities under Trump’s executive order. Postal workers, through their union, also told the Supreme Court that the rules pose a “significant risk of wide swaths of Americans not being able to vote by mail.”
Implementation Challenges
Even if the Supreme Court allows the new rules to proceed, some state election officials say the requirements would be impossible to meet for the November election, with mail ballots already being sent out. Chelsey Wininger, executive director of the Democratic Association of Secretaries of State, said the audit demonstrates the Postal Service’s struggle to implement even basic changes, reinforcing opposition to any new rules this close to the election.
Conclusion
The audit’s findings and the concerns raised by election experts and postal workers highlight the potential dangers of implementing President Trump’s executive order on mail voting without adequate preparation. As the Supreme Court deliberates, the ability of the Postal Service to ensure every eligible voter can cast a ballot by mail remains in question, with the risk of disenfranchisement looming large.
Source: https://www.propublica.org/article/postal-service-audit-primary-election-ballots