USPS Inspector General Audit Finds New Jersey Primary Ballots Went Off Course

Mail-in ballots for New Jersey’s June primary traveled hundreds of miles off course before the problem was detected, according to a federal audit that identified a gap in how the U.S. Postal Service tracks pallets of ballots moving through its network.

The limited review documented a handling and tracking failure after the ballots entered the postal network in Trenton but did not establish an effect on the primary result. Federal auditors recommended continuous tracking of entire ballot-mail pallets, a change relevant to New Jersey voters preparing to vote by mail in the November 3 general election.

The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General issued its final audit report on September 4. The report examines election-mail operations during the 2026 primaries and describes separate corrective actions the U.S. Postal Service scheduled before November.

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A congressional inquiry prompted auditors to review the circumstances surrounding “missing and undelivered” mail-in ballots mailed in April for New Jersey’s June 2 primary. Auditors conducted a limited review and visited postal facilities in Trenton, South Jersey and Phillipsburg from June 1 through June 3, coinciding with the primary.¹

According to Postal Service management’s account in the audit, the Trenton Processing and Distribution Center accepted primary ballots on pallets from a Board of Elections office on April 22. Each pallet had a label designed to track the mail as it was processed, loaded for transportation and distributed to delivery units.

Postal Service management attributed what the audit called a “cross-network diversion” to human error. The tracking gap allowed the time-sensitive ballots to travel hundreds of miles off course without detection for a period, auditors wrote.

The inspector general recommended that postal executives establish a standardized process to keep unique tracking labels linked to an entire pallet of Ballot Mail throughout transportation and until the mail is ready for processing. The change is intended to maintain visibility as pallets move through the postal network.²

At the time of the September 4 report, the pallet-tracking recommendation remained subject to inspector general review. The report said it could not be closed until the agency confirmed completion and the inspector general concurred. As of October 19, the inspector general’s recommendation tracker lists that recommendation as closed.

Nationally, the audit found that monthly on-time processing scores for Election and Political Mail ranged from 96.73% to 98.38% from March through June. Scores by mail type over the four-month period ranged from 97.75% to 98.99%, an improvement over the 2024 presidential primaries.

Auditors also found that visited facilities generally followed key procedures. Seventy of 73 delivery units properly managed undeliverable bulk business mail, all nine processing facilities completed required audit checklists, and 76 of 82 facilities maintained election-mail logs.³

Auditors also identified inconsistent practices involving ballot postmarks, reports for late campaign mail, all-clear certifications and election training. They did not identify significant mail delays resulting from those deficiencies.

At 32 of 82 facilities, managers did not know the required procedure for reporting late-arriving Political Mail. That category includes campaign material, not voter ballots, and the finding is not evidence that ballots were delayed at those facilities.⁴

The facilities were selected judgmentally rather than through a random sample. The results therefore do not provide a statistically representative failure rate for New Jersey or the national postal network.

Postal Service management set a September 30 target for several controls separate from the pallet-tracking recommendation. These include requiring managers to verify that reports were completed when facilities received late Political Mail and that the automated mail-redirection system was checked for voter-returned ballots. Management also said it would avoid operational changes affecting letter and flat-mail operations from October 17 through Election Day.

Beginning October 27, the Postal Service plans to use extraordinary measures to accelerate mailpieces it can identify as ballots. Those measures are scheduled to continue through November 3 and through each state’s final date for accepting timely mail-in ballots.⁵

The report also notes that an August 21 final Postal Service rule established additional controls for ballots in federal general, special and runoff elections. Auditors did not evaluate implementation because rulemaking began as their fieldwork ended. The audit therefore reached no conclusion about how the rule will operate in November.

The Postal Service advises voters to mail completed ballots at least seven days before Election Day. For the November 3 election, that means October 27. This is operational guidance, not a delivery guarantee or a substitute for New Jersey’s legal election deadlines.

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Notes

1. U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, Processing of Election and Political Mail for the 2026 Primary Elections, Report No. 26-054-R26, September 4, 2026, 16, 24.
2. U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, Processing of Election and Political Mail, 17.
3. U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, Processing of Election and Political Mail, 4, 6.
4. U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, Processing of Election and Political Mail, 6–8.
5. U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, Processing of Election and Political Mail, 12, 14–15, 18.