The rate at which mail-in ballots arrived late and went uncounted increased in last year’s general elections and this year’s primaries, according to The New York Times. At least 12 states holding House, Senate and/or gubernatorial races saw more late mail-in ballots go uncounted – a potential result of the U.S. Postal Service trying to run on a tight budget and implement structural changes.
In data reviewed by the New York Times, more than 10,000 mail-in ballots were rejected from Michigan’s primary election earlier this year – more than double the number rejected in 2024. Similar situations have unfolded in states such as Washington, where the number of late mail-in ballots increased by 4,000 between 2024 and 2026. In Wisconsin, the number of late mail-in ballots increased by 2,700 between 2023 and 2026.
President Donald Trump has sought to use the U.S. Postal Service to restrict mail-in ballot voting with less than two months until the midterm elections. The Independent has asked the U.S.
Postal Service for comment. The president is currently locked in a battle with federal judges over his efforts to create a national voter roll and then require USPS to deliver ballots only to those eligible to vote. Trump, who has consistently claimed without evidence that mail-in voting results in mass voter fraud, signed an executive order earlier this year directing the USPS to carry out his orders.
Democratic lawmakers and voting advocacy groups have sought to stop Trump from reshaping mail-in ballot voting. The method of election participation exploded in popularity during the pandemic when in-person activities were restricted. Judges who have blocked the executive order have warned the new rule could disenfranchise voters.
The Trump administration is appealing. Even before the president’s recent intervention with the postal service, it was facing a slowdown. For nearly 10 years, USPS has been operating at a fiscal loss, and the agency’s leadership has warned it will run out of money, according to the Brookings Institute.
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