September 11, 2024
The Honorable Louis DeJoy
Postmaster General
United States Postal Service
475 L’Enfant Plaza SW
Washington, D.C. 20260
Dear Postmaster DeJoy:
On behalf of state and local election officials in all 50 states, the District of Columbia,
and the U.S. territories, we write to express our ongoing concerns about the UnitedStates Postal Service’s (USPS) performance as we approach the November 5, 2024
General Election. Over the course of the last year, election officials across the country
have raised serious questions about processing facility operations, lost or delayedelection mail, and front-line training deficiencies impacting USPS’s ability to deliverelection mail in a timely and accurate manner. Despite repeated engagement withUSPS Election and Political Mail headquarters staff and state/regional Managers ofCustomer Relations, we have not seen improvement or concerted efforts to remediate
our concerns. In fact, many of the issues raised by election officials are echoed in therecent findings of the USPS Office of Inspector General Audit, Election Mail Readinessfor the 2024 General Election.
Inconsistent Training for USPS Staff
Election officials nationwide report USPS staff, from Managers of Customer Relations tolocal postal carriers, are uninformed about USPS policies around election mail. This has
led to inconsistent guidance given to election officials, as well as ballots being
deliberately held to remediate erroneous billing issues, significantly delayed, orotherwise improperly processed. In some cases, this has resulted in mis-delivery ofballots such that voters are disenfranchised.
USPS has more than 600,000 employees, and election officials recognize thechallenges associated with training such a large staff. The frequency and widespread
distribution of training-related issues, however, make it clear these are not one-off
mistakes or a problem with specific facilities. Instead, it demonstrates a pervasive lackof understanding and enforcement of USPS policies among its employees.
Exceptionally Long Delivery Times
Election officials have engaged in rigorous efforts over the last several years toemphasize the importance of voters requesting and returning ballots by mail early,1especially considering the changes to First-Class delivery standards codified by theDelivering for America plan. In nearly every state, however, local election officials arereceiving timely postmarked ballots well after Election Day and well outside the three tofive business days USPS claims as the First-Class delivery standard. For example,election officials in multiple states report receiving anywhere from dozens to hundredsof ballots 10 or more days after postmark. There is no amount of proactive
communication election officials can do to account for USPS’s inability to meet their own
service delivery timelines.
Increase in Mail Returned as Undeliverable
Election officials report mail sent to voters is being marked as undeliverable at higher
than usual rates, even in cases where a voter is known not to have moved. This has
affected a range of election mail, including informational mailers about critical election
information and voter address confirmation cards, as well as ballots. In other cases,
ballots sent to election offices are being returned to the voter with the election officeaddress marked as undeliverable. This is happening nationwide despite mail piece
design approval from USPS Mail Piece Design Analysts.
Election mail returned to an election office as undeliverable could initiate the voter
registration list maintenance process consistent with the National Voter Registration Act(NVRA) of 1993. As a result, a voter may be moved to the inactive voter registration list
and could be required to take additional action to verify their address to participate in
the election. Thus, the increase in undeliverable mail raises two significant issues: (1)the potential disenfranchisement of voters whose ballots are not delivered to them or totheir election office, and (2) putting eligible voters on the path to having their voter
registration record canceled.
We do appreciate the steps that will be taken by USPS as part of the Extraordinary
Measures procedures immediately before and after the November general election,
though we would suggest beginning the implementation of Extraordinary Measures atleast a month prior to the November election. Important election mailings are sent yearround, however, and lasting improvements to election mail processing requirecontinuous attention and emphasis. Temporary measures will not be sufficient toaddress the persistent issues highlighted by election officials.
State and local election officials need a committed partner in USPS. We implore you totake immediate and tangible corrective action to address the ongoing performanceissues with USPS election mail service. Failure to do so will risk limiting voter
participation and trust in the election process.

2We look forward to seeing your plans and sharing them with election officials as soon aspossible. They can be shared with Leslie Reynolds, NASS Executive Director(reynolds@nass.org), and Amy Cohen, NASED Executive Director(acohen@nased.org). Please reach out if we may provide any assistance or feedback
during this process.
Sincerely,Hon. Steve Simon
NASS PresidentMinnesota Secretary of State

Hon. Michael Watson
NASS President-electMississippi Secretary of State

Mandy Vigil
NASED President
State Elections Director
New Mexico Secretary of State

Bryan Caskey
NASED Incoming President
Director of Elections
Kansas Secretary of State

Christopher Prue, CEA
President, Registrars of Voters
Association of Connecticut

Travis Hart
President, Florida Supervisors ofElections

Molly Fitzpatrick
President, Colorado County Clerks
AssociationW. Travis Doss, Jr.
President, Georgia Association of
Voter Registration and Election
Officials

3

Destry R. Richey
President, Indiana Northern District
Clerk's Association

Elizabeth Turner Greendale
President, Massachusetts Town Clerks
Association

Becky Bissell
President, Iowa State Association ofCounty Auditors

Melanie Ryska
President, Michigan Association of
Municipal Clerks

Rick Piepho
President, Kansas County Clerks andElection Officials Association(KCCEOA)

Elizabeth Hundley
President, Michigan Association ofCounty Clerks

Steve Raborn
President, Louisiana Registrars of
Voters Association

Teresa Barksdale
President, Mississippi Circuit Clerk's
Association

Tracey O'Roak
President, Maine Town and City
Clerks' Association

Sergio Cornelio
President, Massachusetts City Clerk's
Association

Sissy J. Smitherman
President, Election Commissioners'
Association of Mississippi

Sherry Parks
President, Missouri Association ofCounty Clerks and Election Authorities(MACCEA)

4

Sarah J. Freidel
Sarah J. Freidel
President, Nebraska Association ofCounty Clerks, Register of Deeds andElection Commissioners

Paul Adams
President, Ohio Association of Election
Officials

Shona L. Mack-Pollock
President, New Jersey Association ofElection Officials

Nick Lima
Chair, Elections Committee, Rhode
Island Town and City Clerks'
Association

Steve Peter
Incoming President, Constitutional
Officers Association of New Jersey

Isaac Cramer
President, South Carolina Associationof Registration and Election Officials

Rosangela Ortiz
Chair, New Mexico Clerk Affiliate, NewMexico Counties

Sara LaVerePresident, North Carolina Associationof Directors of Elections

Jennifer Doinoff
President, Texas Association ofCounty Election Officials

Traci S. Clark
President, Voter Registrars Associationof Virginia

Sally Whittingham
President, North Dakota Auditors &Treasurers Association5

Paul Andrews
President, Washington State
Association of County Auditors

Malcolm Ervin
President, County Clerks' Associationof Wyoming

CC:
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Amber McReynolds, Vice Chair, USPS Board of Governors
Ron Strohman, Member, USPS Board of Governors
Adrienne Marshall, Director, Election and Political Mail, USPS
Steve Monteith, Chief Customer and Marketing Officer and Executive Vice President,
USPS
Brendan Donahue, Assistant Inspector in Charge – Criminal Investigations Group, US
Postal Inspection Service
Geoff Guska, Assistant Special Agent in Charge - Criminal Intelligence Program
Coordination Division, USPS Office of the Inspector General
Caitlin Durkovich, Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Homeland Security
Advisor for Resilience and Response, National Security Council
Justin Vail, Special Assistant to the President for Democracy and Civic Participation,
Domestic Policy Council
Ben Hovland, Chair, U.S. Election Assistance Commission
Don Palmer, Vice Chair, U.S. Election Assistance Commission
U.S. Senate Committee on Rules and Administration
U.S. House Committee on House Administration
U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee
U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability
U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary
U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary

LETTER SENT VIA EMAIL AND U.S. MAIL6