Unusual mail delays have persisted into October, according to data on about 54,000 pieces of first-class mail tracked daily in a continuing project by The Upshot.
Delivery of the mail began to slow in July, with the start of policies that the Postal Service said were intended to make the system more efficient. But even as the Postal Service has pledged to add extra capacity through the election, delays in first-class mail have remained significantly more common than they were even in the first months of the pandemic.
The slowdown has been noticeable on a national scale: to companies that send thousands of pieces of mail daily; to software firms that track that mail; and to the Postal Service itself, which has shared data about the delays with Congress. Now with Election Day just three weeks away and voting underway across the country, the continuing disruptions have heightened anxiety over whether the Postal Service can handle what is expected to be the largest number of mailed ballots in U.S. history — with some of those ballots likely to reach voters on tight deadlines. Continue reading.