USPS Releases Updated 2020 Post-Election Analysis Report

On Average, Ballots Delivered From Voters to Election Officials in 1.6 Days during General Election and in 1.9 Days for Georgia Run-off Election

136 Million Ballots Processed and Delivered Amid Historic Political and Election Mail Volume

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U.S. Postal Service

Jan 19, 2021, 12:57 ET

WASHINGTON, Jan. 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Postal Service today released an updated 2020 Post-Election Analysis that outlined the steps the agency took to deliver a record 136 million ballots and Election Mailpieces during the 2020 General Election and the two run-off elections for the United States Senate in Georgia. Read the full report here: about.usps.com/newsroom/national-releases/2021/usps_postelectionanalysis_1-12-21_georgia.pdf

"Throughout the 2020 election, the Postal Service faced unprecedented challenges, but the commitment of our 644,000 men and women to deliver the nation's ballots never wavered even in the face of the pandemic," said Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. "We take great pride in the Postal Service's performance which is thanks to our hard-working employees who went to extraordinary lengths to fulfill our public service mission, meet the public's high expectations and uphold the Postal Service's promise to deliver the nation's Election Mail securely and in a timely manner."

Key 2020 General Election Performance Statistics:

135 Million Ballots Processed and Delivered. The Postal Service delivered at least 135 million ballots, including both blank ballots delivered from election officials to voters and completed ballots returning from voters to election officials.[i]
99.89 Percent of Ballots Delivered to Election Officials Within a Week. Overall, 99.89 percent of identified ballots mailed after September 4 were delivered within seven days, consistent with the Postal Service's recommendation to voters. The overwhelming majority of ballots were delivered in far less time than that. Specifically, based on internal processing scores, 97.9 percent of ballots mailed from voters to election officials were delivered within three days, and 99.7 percent were delivered within five days.
1.6 Days Average Delivery Time for Ballots from Voters to Election Officials. While the average delivery time for First-Class Mail, the class of mail by which nearly all ballots from voters are mailed, was 2.5 days in October, ballots generally traveled even faster. On average, the Postal Service delivered ballots from election officials to voters in 2.1 days and ballots from voters to election officials in 1.6 days.
4.6 Billion Political and Election Mail Mailpieces. Total mail volume surpassed 4.6 billion mailpieces for both Political Mail and Election Mail tracked, representing a 114 percent increase above the 2016 election cycle.

Key Georgia Runoff Election Performance Statistics:

1.1 Million Ballots Processed and Delivered. The Postal Service delivered at least 1.1 million ballots, including both blank ballots delivered from election officials to voters and completed ballots returning from voters to election officials.[ii]
99.42 Percent of Ballots Delivered to Election Officials Within a Week. Overall, 99.42 percent of identified ballots mailed from voters were delivered in seven days or less, consistent with the Postal Service's recommendation to voters. The majority of ballots were delivered in far less time than that. Specifically, based on internal processing scores, 92.9 percent of ballots mailed from voters to election officials were delivered within three days, and 98.5 percent of ballots mailed from voters were delivered within five days.
1.9 Days Average Delivery Time for Ballots from Voters to Election Officials. On average, the Postal Service delivered ballots from election officials to voters in 3.4 days and ballots from voters to election officials in 1.9 days.

ⁱ The total may greatly exceed 135 million, as the figure includes only those ballots that were properly identified as ballots using the correct electronic identifiers, and does not include many of the ballots that the Postal Service diverted from its processing network or otherwise handled outside of normal processes in an effort to accelerate delivery.
ⁱⁱ As with the figure above for the general election, the total may greatly exceed 1.1 million, as the figure includes only those ballots that were properly identified as ballots using the correct electronic identifiers, and does not include many of the ballots that the Postal Service diverted from its processing network or otherwise handled outside of normal processes in an effort to accelerate delivery.

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