The U.S. Postal Service is responsible for processing, transporting, and delivering the nation’s Election and Political Mail. The Postal Service has specific policies and procedures on the proper acceptance, processing, delivery, and documentation of Election and Political Mail.
Our objective was to evaluate the service performance and visibility of Election and Political Mail during the 2024 general election. For this audit, we reviewed Election and Political Mail policies and mail tracking methods, analyzed service performance data, and judgmentally selected and conducted observations at 68 mail processing facilities and 947 delivery units during the 2024 general election season.
Overall, the Postal Service significantly exceeded service performance goals for Election and most Political Mail, but opportunities existed for the Postal Service to improve tracking of Ballot Mail within its network. The Postal Service applied its “extraordinary measures” to expedite handling of Ballot Mail. In fact, we found the Postal Service provided service above rates charged for certain ballots and late arriving Political Mail. The Postal Service could have potentially received $15.4 million more in revenue if it charged rates in line with the service provided on these ballots. When we observed non-compliance with Election and Political Mail policies and procedures, we found it was caused by confusion in the field over new, electronic processes or temporary changes in the mail flow due to the election. We did not see widespread instances of delayed Election or Political Mail in delivery units before or after the election, but better controls could lead to more accurate daily reporting on the status of Election and Political Mail from delivery operations.
In addition, the Postal Service estimated that just under 40 million ballots mailed to and from voters did not have performance tracking data. The Postal Service’s inability to track ballots negatively impacts its and other interested parties’ visibility into the status of ballots in the postal network.
