United States Postal Service Expedites Midterm Election Ballot Delivery

The United States Postal Service is implementing extraordinary measures starting October 24 to ensure the timely delivery of mail-in ballots for the November 3 midterm elections. Postmaster General David Steiner announced that the agency will utilize extended retail hours, expedited handling, extra deliveries, and special pickups to manage millions of ballots. To further prevent delays, the agency will begin hand-postmarking ballots delivered to election offices on October 26 and may use local turnarounds to bypass standard processing.

These actions follow concerns that a December 2025 rule and broader operational changes increased the lag between when mail is sent and when it is postmarked. This delay affects both taxpayers filing federal returns and voters in 35 states that require ballots to be received by Election Day regardless of the postmark date.

The operational readiness comes after the Supreme Court of the United States issued a September 14 decision blocking the agency from enforcing a rule intended to restrict mail-in voting. That rule, based on a March executive order by Donald Trump, would have allowed the agency to reject ballots if states failed to provide recipient lists or use specific barcoded envelopes. The agency has confirmed it will not enforce the restriction.