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Some 68,000 pieces of first-class political mail from a candidate sat unprocessed at a U.S. Postal Service facility in Baltimore for days before the June 2 primary, according to a recently released audit.
The mail was reportedly received at the Baltimore Processing and Distribution Center on May 12, , conducted by the Postal Service Inspector General鈥檚 Office, and wasn鈥檛 processed for five days.
The 68,000 pieces of mail were classified as 鈥減olitical mail,鈥� meaning it was from a candidate, according to the audit. The unprocessed mail did not include ballots.
鈥淎s soon as Baltimore P&DC management discovered the Political Mail, they immediately processed it for delivery,鈥� the audit, which was prepared by the Postal Service in the lead-up to the Nov. 3 general election, reads.
The audit notes that the foul-up occurred even though the Baltimore P&DC certified that it was clear of political and election mail every day.
The audit comes after weeks of nationwide uproar due to policy changes at the Postal Service that reportedly caused delays in mail.
Some Maryland Democrats charged that Postmaster General Louis DeJoy鈥檚 shake-ups at the Postal Service, which included cutting overtime and removing sorting machines, were part of a聽聽to sabotage mail-in voting.
DeJoy has since said that he鈥檒l delay any 鈥渓ongstanding operational initiatives鈥� until after the election, and said those initiatives predate his June 15 arrival at the Postal Service.
鈥淭o avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail, I am suspending these initiatives until after the election is concluded,鈥� DeJoy said in an .
Despite DeJoy鈥檚 apparent reversal, Maryland Democrats have vowed to聽聽on the Postal Service for fast mail delivery as the November election looms.
