Mail delays disrupting newspapers, threatening elections

Officials worry processing delays will jeopardize mail-in voting.

Delays in processing mail at a new regional distribution center in Palmetto aren’t just affecting individual Georgians trying to obtain vital prescription drugs or pay their monthly rents or mortgages.

Chronic failures to deliver the mail in a timely manner are being seen in some quarters as a threat to the underpinnings of American democracy: elections and the ability to ensure an informed electorate.

Mail-in absentee ballots played a critical role in the 2020 elections, with voters wary of venturing outside during a global pandemic either for in-person advance voting or to cast their ballots on Election Day. Many voters liked the convenience of mail-in voting, and the practice continued in 2022.

But this year, officials in charge of monitoring the U.S. Postal Service are worried that delays in delivering mail processed at the Palmetto distribution center will jeopardize mail-in voting in Georgia.

“Voters and election officials must know the amount of time needed to deliver ballots,” Michael Kubayanda, chairman of the Postal Regulatory Commission, said April 16 during a hearing held by the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee.

The delays began in February when the USPS opened the Atlanta Regional Processing and Distribution Center in Palmetto, part of a plan to make the postal service financially self-sufficient and better able to compete with private shippers including Federal Express and the United Parcel Service.

To staff the new center, the postal service consolidated 10 local mail distribution offices in the Atlanta region into the one Palmetto location, a move that involved nearly 10,000 employees.