USPS Audit Finds Ballot-Handling Gaps Ahead of Midterms

A U.S. Postal Service inspector general audit found delayed ballots, incorrect postmarks and other control gaps during the 2026 primary elections, adding scrutiny to the agency as a federal court blocks implementation of a new ballot-mail rule before the November 3 midterms.

The audit, issued September 4, reviewed election and political mail operations at 82 facilities in eight states. Most facilities generally followed USPS procedures, and overall processing performance was high. But auditors identified recurring weaknesses involving postmarks, late-mail reporting, employee training and communication with election officials.

A separate preliminary injunction issued in Washington, D.C., late September 13 froze implementation of the new federal rule for the midterms while litigation continues. The rule became effective August 21, but the Federal Register said USPS would not implement it for the 2026 election while injunctions remained in place unless the government obtained further relief.

Five delayed ballots missed primary deadlines

Auditors observed nine processing facilities and 73 delivery units during primary-election operations from March through May. In June, they added observations at five processing facilities in New Jersey and Tennessee in response to a congressional inquiry.

At the observed facilities, the review covered approximately 1.27 million election and political mail pieces. Auditors identified 214 delayed pieces, including 137 election-mail pieces and 115 ballots.

Of the 115 delayed ballots, 110 were recovered and processed in time. Five were not recovered in time to reach boards of elections before primary deadlines. The audit did not establish whether any of those ballots were ultimately rejected or excluded from a final count.

Separately, USPS data showed on-time processing scores from 97.75% to 98.99% for different categories of election and political mail during the February-through-May period. Those figures measure processing between scans inside mail-processing facilities; they do not measure final delivery to voters or election officials.

At least 56 Harrisburg ballots received wrong postmarks

Auditors found that hand cancelers carried incorrect dates at five of nine processing facilities. At the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, facility, a hand canceler still showed March 19 during observations on Pennsylvania’s May primary Election Day, causing at least 56 ballots to receive the wrong postmark.

The audit also found that management at 10 of the 82 facilities reviewed was not aware of proper ballot-postmarking policy. Other weaknesses involved late-arriving political-mail reports, daily all-clear certifications, employee training materials and communication with election officials.

The inspector general said these deficiencies did not produce significant mail delays in the audit’s observations, but inconsistent controls increase the risk that election mail is not handled, documented or reported according to USPS policy. The review also found differing experiences among election officials, including delayed responses and inconsistent local communication.

The OIG made 11 recommendations. USPS agreed with 10 and disagreed with one. The inspector general said management’s comments were responsive to all 11 recommendations and required written confirmation before most corrective actions could be closed.

New federal ballot-mail rule remains tied up in court

The audit did not examine implementation of the new federal ballot-mail rule. The OIG said the rulemaking process began after its fieldwork and was outside the audit’s scope.

The final rule establishes envelope and barcode standards for covered federal-election ballot mail and requires states or their designees to submit specified ballot information through a Federal Ballot Mail Portal. USPS says outbound federal ballot mail could be rejected before entering the mailstream if its barcode cannot be matched with portal data.

USPS also says the rule does not cover ballot mail for primary elections, ballots used solely for state or local elections, or ballots covered by the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act. It says voters returning completed federal ballots would continue using existing USPS collection methods.

U.S. District Judge Carl J. Nichols issued the September 13 preliminary injunction after finding that, without an injunction, there was an increased risk that otherwise valid absentee or mail ballots would not be counted. The order is an interim freeze, not a final ruling on the rule’s legality. The case follows earlier litigation in Massachusetts, with the federal government continuing to seek relief in the courts.

What voters should watch

For now, voters should continue following their state’s ballot-return instructions and deadlines. The audit does not establish a nationwide change to current voter procedures.

The accountability questions are whether USPS closes the control gaps identified in the primary review and whether election officials receive stable guidance while litigation continues. The audit found a low rate of delayed pieces relative to the volume observed, but it also documented errors that can matter when a ballot arrives close to a deadline.

Sources

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