USPS On-Time Delivery Is Getting Worse. That May Put Ballots At Risk. (From CBS News)

Lexington’s Paul Steidler was quoted in a CBS News story about longer U.S. Postal Service (USPS) delivery times for first-class mail ahead of Election Day. The Postal Service said on October 23 that its on-time delivery rate for first-class mail slipped to 85.6% for the week ending on October 16. Steidler noted that this rate is down from nearly 91% over a three-month period ending in June. He described the latest data on the USPS’s delivery record as “awful.”

Steidler also warned that a drop in timely mail delivery could pose a risk for voters who wait to mail-in their ballots. Based on recent trends, if 10 million ballots are mailed in the two days before the election, 1.4 million ballots could arrive after Election Day.

“’It’s disappointing that the numbers are what they are,’” Steidler added. He himself voted last week in person, rather than sending a ballot through the mail. “The Postal Service itself — and this is to their credit — they said if you haven’t mailed a ballot by yesterday, that you are better off bringing it in or voting in person.”

Read the full article here.