Postal Service: Restoring service in hurricane-hit areas may take ‘some time’

Officials for the United States Postal Service gave an update Wednesday on recovery efforts following hurricanes Helene and Milton, saying that restoring full service in affected areas may take “some time.”

In a media briefing Wednesday, Steven Monteith, Postal Service chief customer and marketing officer, said 4,600 addresses in North Carolina and 600 addresses in Florida were still inaccessible.

“Where retail and delivery units remain inaccessible, operations have been relocated to nearby units and have deployed mobile retail units to make sure we can provide retail and delivery services to affected communities as quickly as possible,” the Postal Service said in a press release after the briefing.

As of Oct. 22, the service said all processing facilities and most retail and delivery units have reopened in both states and are in ongoing communication with local election officials to identify and resolve any election-mail-related issues.  

“We have maintained a really close contact with our election officials in North Carolina,” said Adrienne Marshall, executive director for election and government mail services. “Of course, we’ve established some assistance at the shelters and with recommendations for change of address for voters that are misplaced due to the hurricane.”

The Postal Service said it was also deploying “extraordinary measures” to ensure the timeliness, safety and security of mail-in ballots ahead of Election Day.

“But don’t delay. If you choose to vote by mail, please mail early,” it said in the release.

“We urge members of the public to report any suspicious activity related to Election Mail immediately,” it added.

The Postal Service has repeatedly sought to reassure the public as mail-in voting has become an increasingly important and closely scrutinized part of the election process in recent years.

A Thursday PR/PBS News/Marist poll revealed that more than half of Americans are concerned about voter fraud in the 2024 election. And several groups representing election officials sent a letter in August to the Postal Service questioning the department’s ability to deliver election mail in a “timely and accurate manner.”

The service said an uptick in ballots is expected in the mailstream in the coming days and that it started deploying a series of extraordinary measures Monday, including extra deliveries and collections, special pickups, specialized sort plans at processing facilities and local transportation of ballots.

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy addressed concerns in a congressional hearing last month, testifying that the department would be “even better prepared” for the 2024 ballot surge compared to past years.  

The U.S. Postal Service reported at the media briefing that 97.8 percent of ballot mail is delivered on time, and 99.9 percent of ballot mail is delivered within a week. Election mail makes up roughly 0.01 percent of total mail volume.