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US Postal Service 'ready' to deliver nation's mail-in ballots

Officials with the USPS recommend mailing in ballots by Oct. 29 to ensure the ballot is received in a timely manner.

PENNSYLVANIA, USA — Editor's note: The above video is from Oct. 23.

With eight days remaining until Election Day, the U.S. Postal Service is recommending voters who choose to vote by mail do so soon.

Officials with the USPS recommend mailing in ballots by Oct. 29 to ensure the ballot is received in a timely manner. 

For the upcoming 2024 general election, the Postal Service anticipates similar service performance as demonstrated in the 2020 general election:

  • 99.89% of ballots mailed from voters to election officials were delivered within a week (7 days).
  • 97.9% of ballots mailed from voters to election officials were delivered within three days, and 99.7% were delivered within five days.
  • On average, the Postal Service delivered ballots from election officials to voters in 2.1 days and ballots from voters to election officials in 1.6 days.

For the 2024 general election, the nation’s postal network is expected to operate effectively without any major reported disruptions. In the first three weeks of October, Ballot Mail performance scores were high: 

  • 99.9% of ballots (combined: outbound from election officials to voters and inbound from voters to election officials) were delivered within a week (7 days).
  • On average, the Postal Service delivered outbound ballots (to voters) in 2.0 days.
  • 98.3% of inbound ballots (from voters to election officials) were delivered within 3 days.
  • On average, the Postal Service delivered inbound ballots (from voters to election officials) in 1 day.

In addition to the processes and procedures specific to Election Mail that the Postal Service deploys all year long, as in previous general elections, the Postal Service is deploying extraordinary measures in the final weeks of the election season to swiftly move Ballot Mail entered close to or on Election Day and/or the state’s return deadline.

Extraordinary measures began Monday, Oct. 21, and will continue nationwide through Election Day (Tuesday, Nov. 5) and extend through the last day in each state that boards of elections will accept completed mail-in ballots as timely. 

The extraordinary measures are designed to accelerate and enhance the delivery of Ballot Mail, when the Postal Service is able to identify the mailpiece as a ballot.

The Postal Service’s extraordinary measures include but are not limited to:

  • Extra deliveries and collections;
  • Special pick-ups;
  • Specialized sort plans at processing facilities to expedite delivery to boards of elections; and
  • Local handling and transportation of ballots.

These measures are consistent with the Postal Service’s efforts in past elections.

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