Election officials in Washington and Oregon say the number of mail-in ballots disqualified because of late or illegible postmarks has climbed noticeably this year, a shift they attribute to changes in how the U.S. Postal Service processes and routes mail. County auditors in both states, which conduct elections almost entirely by mail, say the pattern has emerged over the past several election cycles and appears to be accelerating in 2026.
Both Washington and Oregon allow ballots to count as long as they are postmarked on or before Election Day, even if they arrive at election offices days later. That rule exists precisely to accommodate voters who mail their ballots close to the deadline. But officials say the safety net is failing more often as postal processing slows, particularly in rural and semi-rural counties.
What’s Driving the Increase
The Postal Service has spent the past several years consolidating mail-sorting operations under its long-running network modernization effort, shifting processing away from smaller regional facilities toward larger, centralized hubs. Postal workers’ unions and government watchdogs have repeatedly warned that the consolidation, intended to cut costs, has instead lengthened delivery times for first-class mail in many areas, including ballots.
County election officials in Washington told local reporters that ballots mailed from towns that once had same-day or next-day postmarking now sometimes take two or three days to receive a legible stamp, if they are stamped clearly at all. In Oregon, several county clerks said an increasing share of returned ballots arrive with smudged, missing, or ambiguous postmark dates, forcing staff to make case-by-case judgment calls about whether a ballot qualifies.
How Ballots Get Rejected
Under both states’ laws, a ballot without any postmark, or with a postmark dated after Election Day, is set aside and not counted. Election workers examine every returned envelope for a legible date stamp before a ballot is opened. When postal equipment fails to imprint a clear mark, or when a ballot is processed at a facility that skips postmarking on certain routes, the envelope can be flagged even if the voter mailed it on time.
- Ballots postmarked after Election Day are automatically rejected in both states.
- Ballots with no visible postmark are reviewed individually and can be disqualified if the mailing date cannot be verified.
- Officials say rural counties, where mail travels farther to reach a sorting hub, are seeing the highest rejection rates.
Secretary of state offices in both states have not yet released final statewide rejection totals for the current election cycle, but preliminary figures shared with local media show rejection rates for postmark-related issues rising compared with prior off-year elections. Auditors caution that final numbers typically aren’t confirmed until after canvassing is complete.
Officials Respond
Washington’s Office of the Secretary of State and Oregon’s Elections Division have both issued voter advisories urging residents to return ballots well ahead of the deadline rather than relying on the postmark grace period. Officials in both states are steering voters toward official ballot drop boxes, which are checked and emptied directly by election staff and eliminate the postmark question entirely.
“The postmark deadline was meant to protect voters who mail their ballot at the last minute, not create a new way for legitimate votes to be thrown out,” one Washington county auditor told local news outlets, describing the trend as a “growing headache” for administrators trying to certify results on time.
Oregon officials have raised the issue directly with regional Postal Service management, according to state election staff, asking for assurances that ballot mail is prioritized and postmarked promptly during the voting window. The Postal Service has said in the past that election mail is treated as a service priority, though it has not detailed specific fixes for the postmarking gaps counties are reporting.
A Broader Pattern
The concerns in Washington and Oregon echo complaints raised in other vote-by-mail states in recent cycles, where slower rural delivery has intersected with strict postmark deadlines. Voting rights advocates argue that postal delays disproportionately affect voters in areas farther from major sorting centers, potentially skewing which ballots get counted based on geography rather than voter intent.
Some state lawmakers have floated legislation that would count ballots received within a set number of days after Election Day regardless of postmark clarity, or that would require the Postal Service to guarantee same-day postmarking for ballot mail. No such measures have passed in either state so far.
What Voters Can Do
Election officials in both states are emphasizing practical steps voters can take now to avoid having their ballot disqualified:
- Mail ballots at least a week before Election Day rather than waiting for the deadline.
- Use an official drop box instead of the mail when possible, especially in rural areas.
- Track ballot status online through the state’s ballot tracking system, which both Washington and Oregon offer to registered voters.
With mail volumes expected to rise as the election approaches, county clerks say the coming weeks will be a critical test of whether postal processing keeps pace with the deadline that both states built their vote-by-mail systems around.
