Recent Posts

A new report by the University of Washington’s Elections Database shows how recent election data reveal the extent to which United States Postal Service (USPS) processing and postmark changes may be increasing the number of mailed ballots arriving late in Washington State, particularly in rural and suburban areas. Recent changes ... Read More

ProPublica: In early August, election workers north of Spokane, Washington, went across the street to the post office to check for late mail-in ballots. It was three days after the primary and they were expecting no more than a few dozen. Instead, their mailbox was brimming with envelopes — more ... Read More

KGW Oregon: If you drop a letter in the mail today, will it be postmarked today? KGW put the U.S. Postal Service to the test, mailing 100 letters from dozens of locations across Oregon on the same day. Only 14 of the 100 letters received a same-day postmark. Another 85 ... Read More

Spectrum News: Talk about snail mail! Spectrum News tested the U.S. Postal Service’s ability to meet its own standards for delivering local mail. More than 40% of the hundreds of letters sent to local addresses in the investigation were delivered late. “The Postal Service is facing a number of challenges, and the ... Read More

A homeschooling class that follows savethepostoffice.com has suggested that this article from 2024 would be a valuable addition to the website at this particular time, so thanks to them for the recommendation: Managing Election and Political Stress: Practical Tips for a Healthier Mindset Cole Neder Election seasons are often ... Read More

The Postal Service’s Regional Transportation Optimization (RTO) initiative has raised serious concerns about a potential surge in ballot rejections in the November election. A few days ago, the USPS issued new instructions to postal employees that should address some of these concerns. Under RTO, mail is held overnight and transported ... Read More

OIG: The Delivering for America (DFA) plan, released in 2021, outlines the Postal Service’s 10-year strategy to improve service and achieve financial sustainability. In 2024, DFA 2.0 provided an updated blueprint for its path forward. Since the release of the DFA plan, the Office of Inspector General has integrated independent ... Read More

NPR: Relying on the U.S. Postal Service to return a mail-in ballot close to Election Day now comes with an additional risk for many voters — a late postmark that gets a vote rejected. The risk stems from mailing system changes that began last year. And those changes have pushed ... Read More

OIG: Due to a variety of cost and service considerations, the U.S. Postal Service leases nearly 23,000 of its 31,000 real properties nationwide, at an annual cost of more than $1 billion. While Postal Service staff manage leases and rent payments, a third-party contractor helps negotiate terms and submits annual reports with key financial ... Read More

The Fall 2026 newsletter from Communities and Postal Workers United (CPWU) has articles about the “uprising” at the NALC Convention, the legal fight over voting by mail, the importance of voting early due to slower mail delivery, and self-driving vehicles, robots and drones. Read the newsletter here ... Read More

USPS OIG: While postal operators in other nations often measure their public benefit to guide policy, U.S. discussions remain focused on finances. Nearly two-thirds of rural post offices do not generate enough revenue to cover their operating expenses, compared to just seven percent of urban facilities. However, understanding the agency ... Read More

OIG: In March 2021, the U.S. Postal Service released its 10-year strategic Delivering for America (DFA) plan to achieve financial sustainability and improve service. Since that time, the Postal Service has implemented significant changes in its transportation, package processing, and delivery network. This involved reducing operational costs by consolidating operations ... Read More

Brookings: In 2025, the Postal Service changed how mail leaves thousands of post offices. Mail sent from those offices can now wait an extra day before beginning its journey. Voters send their mail ballots back through those offices, and unlike most mail, those ballots must arrive by a deadline. The ... Read More

GAO: Since USPS launched its strategic plan in 2021, it has worked to cut costs and improve service. To align with its cost-cutting initiatives, USPS has extended expected mail delivery times by 1 to 2 days. And it has decreased the amount of mail it expects to handle within the ... Read More

Reuters: “US Postal Service chief told associates he wants to quit, sources say.” The head of the U.S. Postal Service ​has told confidants that he is deeply discouraged by his job and wants to resign, according to four people familiar with his thinking, as the ‌agency comes under scrutiny over ... Read More

Value Added Resource: Longtime ecommerce news site EcommerceBytes has ceased publication after 27 years, ending a run that began when publishers Ina and David Steiner launched AuctionBytes in 1999. The husband-and-wife publishing operation, which rebranded as EcommerceBytes in 2011, covered eBay, Amazon, Etsy and other marketplaces, with a particular focus on ... Read More

New York Times: President Trump’s legal and rhetorical assault on voting by mail — and the flurry of contradictory court decisions around it — has left voters confused and local officials scrambling just eight weeks before November’s critical midterm elections. The contortions have county registrars dusting off Election Day contingency ... Read More

New York Times: A U.S. Postal Service official has alleged that the agency is moving forward with a “secretive, rushed” effort to implement President Trump’s order exerting federal control over mail voting, despite a court order blocking those plans. The official filed a whistle-blower report, published on Tuesday morning by the office ... Read More

The litigation challenging the Postal Service’s ballot-mail rule is moving quickly, with new developments occurring almost by the hour. The legal questions could remain unresolved until the Supreme Court weighs in again, probably in mid-September. By then, however, the most pressing issue may no longer be whether the new rule ... Read More

New York Times: The rate at which mail votes have been rejected for arriving late has ticked up in primaries this year and general elections last year in roughly a dozen states, prompting election officials to worry that the U.S. Postal Service is ill-equipped to deliver ballots in the fall ... Read More