Democracy Dies in Darkness

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

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October 20, 2020 at 12:52 p.m. EDT
A U.S. Postal Service employee oversees the unloading of pallets of filled-in mail ballots from Washington state and Oregon at a processing and distribution center last week in Portland. (Nathan Howard/Getty Images)

Key swing states that may well decide the presidential race are recording some of the nation’s most erratic mail service as record numbers 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 mail service struggles to right operations after the rollout, then suspension, of a major midsummer restructuring. In 17 postal districts representing 10 battleground states and 151 electoral votes, the average on-time delivery rate for first-class mail is 83.9 percent — 7.8 percentage points lower than in January and nearly two points below the national average. By that measure, more than 1 in 6 mailings arrive outside the agency’s one-to-three-day delivery window.