US lawmakers' concerns about mail ballots are fueled by other issues with mail service

Lawmakers said during a contentious congressional hearing Thursday they are uneasy about the U.S. Postal Service's readiness for a crush of mail ballots for the November election because some of them feel burned by other Postal Service actions.

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy sought to reassure a House Appropriations subcommittee that the Postal Service is well-positioned for an extraordinary effort to deliver mail ballots to election officials on time to be counted and that close to 100% will make it promptly. In recent weeks, DeJoy has pushed back on suggestions from state and local election officials that the Postal Service has not addressed problems that led to mail ballots arriving too late or without postmarks, disenfranchising those voters.

But as subcommittee members asked DeJoy about how the Postal Service has addressed election officials' concerns, they criticized a larger, 10-year plan to make the mail delivery system more efficient and less costly by consolidating mail processing centers, suggesting it could slow mail delivery, particularly in rural areas. DeJoy disputed that.

DeJoy has said repeatedly that the Postal Service's larger plans won't affect the handling of potentially tens of millions of mail ballots for the Nov. 5 election because the plan is on hold for October and the first half of November. But subcommittee Chair David Joyce, an Ohio Republican, told him in opening the hearing that broader problems with mail delivery are on constituents' minds as the presidential election approaches.

''Many of our constituents have expressed concerns about the Postal Service's ability to deliver election ballots securely and on time,'' Joyce said. ''It is imperative that the Postal Service get this right."

DeJoy told the lawmakers that the Postal Service's 650,000 employees will be sifting through 300 million pieces of mail to capture stray ballots and ensure they arrive on time. DeJoy said the Postal Service has improved its training and touted a year-round task force he created to deal with mail ballot issues.

''We do everything we possibly can in an imperfect system that expects the perfect, and we're a good target for a lot of blame,'' DeJoy said.

DeJoy said that nearly 99.9% of the mail ballots from the 2020 election were delivered within seven days, the ''recommended commonsense time frame." Asked whether people can trust mail ballots, DeJoy said, ''Absolutely, absolutely.''

Scrutiny of the Postal Service intensified earlier this month when the National Association of Secretaries of State and National Association of State Election Directors sent DeJoy a letter saying that their concerns weren't being adequately addressed, releasing it to news organizations. DeJoy said he's had a good working relationship with them.

''A phone call would have helped instead of a letter to the press,'' he said.

But Joyce said that in Ohio's Nov. 7, 2023, election, when voters approved an amendment to the state constitution protecting abortion rights, some ballots mailed by voters on Oct. 24 did not arrive until Nov. 21 — 10 days too late to be counted. DeJoy said he would need to learn the specifics.

Democratic Rep. Matt Cartwright of Pennsylvania, a key swing state in the presidential election, pointed to an end-of-July report from the Postal Service's inspector general saying that in some places, Postal Service workers weren't following its procedures for handling mail ballots.

''We're doing very well at this — just not perfect,'' DeJoy said.

He said the inspector general's office ''has a couple hundred people'' to investigate potential problems and ''interrogate our people.''

''They find some things wrong — they're perfect at that,'' he said.

Though the subcommittee said it was examining issues about mail ballots, several members used the hearing to air other issues that trouble them, particularly the larger plan to reorganize the mail delivery system.

DeJoy said the Postal Service has embarked on long-overdue investments in ''ratty'' facilities and making other changes to create ''a Postal Service for the future'' and deliver mail faster. But lawmakers in several states have argued that mail delivery slowed after regional hubs were consolidated.

Democratic Rep. Mark Pocan, of Wisconsin, suggested that a pilot program consolidating some mail processing in Green Bay, Wisconsin, had failed and said the larger reorganization should remain on hold ''forever.''

DeJoy said a pilot program allowed a test of potential changes and problems are being addressed after telling Pocan, ''You know, the first rockets that went to the moon blew up.''

Pocan shot back: ''Thanks for blowing up Wisconsin.''

Cartwright expressed concern about a potential slowdown of rural mail delivery. DeJoy suggested the Postal Service was a financial and operational mess when he became postmaster general in 2020 and badly needed fixing, but Cartwright said, "You really think that rural Americans should have to pay the price?''

DeJoy responded: ''I disagree with the premise, and I think it's an unfair accusation, considering the condition that the Postal Service has been allowed to get to.''

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The spelling of an Ohio congressman's last name in the 11th paragraph has been corrected. He is David Joyce, not Royce.

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Hanna reported from Topeka, Kansas.