Audit reveals issues with Virginia USPS after election official warns against mailing ballots

A recent audit conducted by the United States Postal Service’s inspector general found major issues at a mail processing facility in Richmond, Virginia, that confirmed previous reports of ongoing delivery issues, the Associated Press reported.

The March audit report, “Effectiveness of the New Regional Processing and Distribution Center in Richmond, VA,” was released just one month after Keith Balmer, the general registrar for the City of Richmond, warned voters not to mail their ballots.

Balmer stated during a February town hall event, “The reports we’ve been receiving about delayed, misplaced, or even missing mail are deeply troubling, especially as we approach crucial electoral events like the Presidential Election in November.”

The election official encouraged voters to “consider alternative methods of submission,” Blaze News previously reported. He acknowledged that the mail delivery failures “represent a fundamental threat to our democracy.”

“To address these concerns and mitigate potential voter disenfranchisement, I strongly recommend bypassing USPS and utilizing one of the three drop boxes located in the city for ballot submission,” Balmer remarked.

Richmond-area residents have been sounding the alarm about the USPS’ mail issues for months.

The inspector general stated that the purpose of the recent audit was to assess the effectiveness of the USPS’ “modernized network based around Regional Processing and Distribution Centers.”

“The U.S. Postal Service is redesigning its processing network with the goal of creating a best-in-class mail and package processing network as part of its 10-year strategic Delivering for America plan,” the audit read. “The Richmond Processing and Distribution Center became the first RP&DC, in July 2023, consolidating operations from nearby facilities.”

The audit noted that the Richmond facility “faced many challenges” that caused the USPS “to incur additional labor and transportation costs, totaling over $8 million in questioned costs over the first four months of operations.” The inspector general report acknowledged “a significant decrease in service performance for the Richmond region that continued four months after launch, even as we concluded our audit fieldwork.”

The review discovered issues at the facility, including “inadequate management and employee staffing, low employee availability, high turnover, low service performance, missed clearance times, overcrowding, and low productivity.”

Over a four-month period, the facility had three different plant managers. The audit noted that the managerial role is “the key position responsible for managing and overseeing the timely processing and dispatch of mail, improving operations, and correcting problems to achieve goals.”

The inspector general’s investigation found that workers newly placed in leadership positions “generally had not completed required training.”

“We also observed multiple instances of personnel throughout the facility not engaged with work. For example, we witnessed idle terminal handling service staff waiting for mail, and in one instance, a mail handler sleeping on a parked forklift,” the audit read. “We found a general inattention to detail that resulted in mail left on or around machines, large amounts of machinable mail in manual processing, and in one case, mail over two months old left in a container in the truck yard.”

One of the photographs of the facility’s conditions showed water-damaged mail.

The USPS plans to launch 60 regional processing centers nationwide to streamline mail delivery. However, the audit acknowledged that “it is uncertain if expected savings will be achieved” at the Richmond facility, the first RPDC. The new plant was estimated to save $15 million annually. Instead, the facility spent $5 million on non-approved and penalty overtime hours.

According to the inspector general, so far in fiscal year 2024, only 66% of first-class mail processed at the Richmond facility was delivered within two days, while the national average is 87%. Every other facility in the country is ranked 80% or higher.

The USPS released a statement in response to the audit, noting that it agreed with most of the inspector general’s 10 recommendations for improvement.

“We have undertaken extensive efforts to thoroughly address these challenges and issues in Richmond, which has led to continued performance improvement,” USPS officials said.

U.S. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) wrote on X, “Following concerning mail delays, we pushed for an investigation into the Richmond Post Office, and I’m glad to see it reveal some of the causes of delay. It’s time for USPS to work in good faith to implement the suggestions so Virginians’ mail is safely & quickly delivered.”

Warner and several other Virginia lawmakers released a bipartisan joint statement urging the USPS to implement the inspector general’s recommendations.

“It couldn’t be clearer that USPS has not been providing reliable service to Virginians, and we’ve been pressing for answers. This report pinpoints a number of issues, including a lack of coordination between USPS and staff at the Richmond Regional Processing and Distribution Center (RPDC). Going forward, USPS must provide more resources and clearer guidance to management and staff at RPDC, among other steps. We look forward to working with USPS to ensure that happens, the recommendations in the IG report are implemented, and mail delivery is timely for Virginians,” lawmakers stated.

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