![\"Common](\"https:\/\/therealnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/cd_stacked_white_600.png\")
<\/figure>\nThis story originally appeared in Common Dreams on <\/em>Oct<\/a>. 02, 2026<\/a>.<\/em> It is shared here under a\u00a0Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0)\u00a0license.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n An analysis published Friday by Democracy Docket<\/a> warned that \u201ctens of thousands\u201d of voters across the US face \u201crisk of disenfranchisement\u201d thanks to actions being taken by the United States<\/a> Postal Service.<\/p>\n The analysis, written by veteran election reporter Jim Saksa, points to a new USPS policy known as Regional Transportation<\/a> Optimization (RTO) that \u201cwill eliminate evening mail pickups from post offices more than 50 miles away from a regional processing facility, most of which are located in major urban areas.\u201d<\/p>\n For people who live in these areas, ballots sent on Election Day will be postmarked and delivered at least a day later than in previous election years, thus making it ineligible to be included in final election tallies.<\/p>\n \u201cIn every state, a day\u2019s delay in delivery means that if mail voters wait until the last day or two before the election to mail their ballot,\u201d Saksa explained, \u201cthey could be disenfranchised.\u201d<\/p>\n Saksa reported that this policy is currently active in \u201cabout 42.5% of all ZIP codes\u201d in the continental US, and is scheduled to eventually take effect in around 70% of all ZIP codes. No additional ZIP codes are expected to be added between now and election day.<\/p>\n Saksa also said that voters concerned about their ballots not being counted should deliver them in person to their local post office, where they can ask an employee to postmark it.<\/p>\n President Donald Trump<\/a> has tried for the last several months to use USPS to meddle with states\u2019 mail-in voting systems.<\/p>\n In March, the president signed an executive order that instructed the United States<\/a> Postal Service to not deliver ballots in any states that have not given the federal government access to their voter lists.<\/p>\n The US Supreme Court<\/a> last month rejected<\/a> Trump\u2019s efforts to interfere with mail-in voting, allowing states to continue sending ballots to voters as they\u2019ve done in past elections.<\/p>\n Even with the Supreme Court<\/a> loss, however, the president\u2019s repeated attacks on voting by mail has had a major impact on the 2026 midterm elections<\/a>.<\/p>\n