Due to a 2025 service slowdown, most of the country’s mail dropped in a blue box or handed to a mail carrier on or before an election deadline is no longer guaranteed to receive a real-time postmark. In some cases, postmarks may not be applied for days. That delay can be the difference between a vote that counts and a vote that gets thrown out.

This is the direct result of former Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s Regional Transportation Optimization (RTO) plan that quietly went into effect last year.

DeJoy spent years consolidating mail processing out of local communities and centralized it into massive regional hubs that can be hundreds of miles away, sometimes in another state. That means ballots dropped at neighborhood post offices or blue boxes in most of the country are no longer processed locally.

When mail processing is delayed, postmarks lag, and deadlines become murky for voters who tried to do everything right.

Postmarks are how election officials decide whether a ballot was mailed on time. When postmarks are delayed, ballots become vulnerable to rejection, legal challenges, and partisan games after Election Day.

This creates a huge risk of bad actors pushing to discount ballots after the fact.

Rural voters and anyone who lives more than 50 miles from one of these mega processing centers are hit hardest – so, most of the country. Many of us rely on mail service for casting our votes, getting prescriptions, paying rent and mortgages, the list goes on. Seniors, veterans, and voters without easy access to in-person voting are especially at risk. Republicans and Democrats alike depend on timely postmarks to ensure their votes count.

The good news is that when it comes to the Postal Service, public pressure works!

It worked when we forced DeJoy to pause processing plant consolidation chaos. It worked when Congress intervened to protect election mail in past cycles. It worked when we blocked Trump’s attempt to move the USPS under the control of the Commerce Department and when the administration floated the idea of firing the entire Board of Governors. It’s even worked to block the last two nominees Trump has tried to put on the board.

We must protect vote by mail! Click ‘START WRITING’ to sign and send a direct message urging your members of Congress to demand the USPS restore real-time postmarks now.