Postal Service cutbacks could delay voting ballots — in rural GOP counties

During a Friday, March 20 appearance on NewsNation, U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski (D-Illinois) vigorously defended the U.S. Postal Service — arguing that postal cutbacks would hit GOP-leaning rural areas especially hard. And she disagreed strongly with Republicans who are claiming that private companies like Federal Express and United Parcel Service (UPS) would be able to step in and fill the void if the Postal Service no longer offered mail delivery in those areas. The segment noted that millions of Americans received their medications via the Postal Service, including those who live far from major urban centers.

According to New York Times reporter Nick Corasaniti, cutbacks to the Postal Service could hurt another group of Republicans: rural voters.

In an article published on March 23, Corasaniti notes that the Postal Service is a "critical partner for mail voting programs" — including those in rural areas that lean Republican.

"The (U.S. Postal) Service's website embraces the responsibility, noting that it treats all completed ballots as first-class mail and is committed to their 'expeditious processing and delivery,'" the Times reporter explains. "But the Postal Service has also made changes that could affect election mail, perhaps most acutely in rural areas. As part of a 10-year strategic plan announced in 2021, the service has consolidated and changed policies at some of its regional processing centers, which could lead to delays in postmarking and delivery of mail. Postmarks are a critical component of mail voting laws that allow ballots to be accepted after Election Day only with proof that they were cast before polls closed."

Corasaniti adds, "In last year's municipal elections in Snohomish County, Wash., the third most populous county in the state, significantly more ballots were postmarked too late, affecting thousands of voters, according to Stuart Holmes, the state's election director. Similarly record-high percentages of ballots were rejected because of late postmarks during the most recent local elections in February."

According to Corasaniti, "logistical changes" like the closing of sorting centers could also "delay ballots for rural voters."

Holmes told the Times, "If a voter attempts to return their ballot on Election Day, the likelihood of it being postmarked too late is almost certain."

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