Key swing states vulnerable to USPS slowdowns as millions vote by mail, data shows
Source: Washington Post
Key swing states vulnerable to USPS slowdowns as millions vote by mail, data shows
Battlegrounds that may decide the presidency have some of the nation’s most erratic mail service, which has particular implications for states with firm ballot deadlines
By Jacob Bogage and Christopher Ingraham
10/20/2020, 12:52:38 p.m.
Key swing states that may well decide the presidential race are recording some of the nation’s most erratic mail service as a record number of Americans are relying on the U.S. Postal Service to deliver their ballots, agency data shows.
Consistent and timely delivery remains scattershot as the agency struggles to right operations after the rollout, then suspension, of a major midsummer restructuring. In 17 postal districts covering 10 battleground states and representing 151 electoral votes, first-class mail service is down 7.8 percentage points from January benchmarks and nearly two percentage points below the national average. By that measure, roughly 16 in 100 items will not arrive within the Postal Service’s one-to-three-day delivery window; in January, it was fewer than 10.
The slowdowns, which have raised alarms and suspicions among voters, postal workers and voting experts, have particular implications for states with strict voter deadlines. Michigan, Wisconsin and Georgia, for example, do not accept ballots that arrive after Election Day, even if postmarked before. Of the states that do, there is generally a short acceptance window: In North Carolina, where polls have President Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden in a dead heat, postmarked ballots must arrive within three days of the election.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/10/20/swing-states-election-usps/
= new reply since forum marked as read
